68 THE SALMON 



CHAPTER IV 



BOAT FISHING 



The most satisfactory method of fishing for salmon 

 is, no doubt, casting, either from the bank or wading, 

 as described in the previous chapters — but there are 

 rivers — and some of the best and most sought after — 

 where this is often impracticable, owing to the width 

 of the stream, the nature of the banks, and the posi- 

 tions of the pools in which the fish rest and take the 

 fly. I will briefly describe some examples of various 

 methods of boat fishing, mainly derived from my own 

 personal recollections. 



The first scene is a certain wide stretch of the Tay 

 not far from Dunkeld ; the time, I am sorry to say, 

 a good many years ago. A little above us on the hill, 

 among beautiful woods and grand Scotch firs, stands 

 an immense modern mansion, which-, on close inspec- 

 tion, turns out to be a shell only, a still existing 

 example of the folly of beginning to build without 

 counting the cost ; and close beside it the picturesque 



