CHAPTER XVII. 



ANENT THE SALMON. 



IN casting about among the many angling books which have been written I 

 discover that the literature of the salmon is for the most part painfully hackneyed. 

 Every author is voiced alike. There is the same theme, similar treatment, and one 

 uniform arrangement. Each book aspires to be a ''complete" treatise, and every 

 one is oracular. Classes are formed, the impresario comes to the front, and every 

 scholar is expected to toe the mark. Then follow, by rote, the biology of the fish, 

 his habits and characteristics, and ''when, how and where to capture him," con- 

 cluding with some wild anecdote or bit of poetry by way of a snapper. No detail 

 is omitted. All the elements are presented. If any variation is attempted, it runs 

 into the speculative and mysterious The study becomes as classical and occult as 

 Madame Blavatsky's theosophy. The ways of a salmon seem past finding out. 

 The more abstruse and empirical the treatise is, the more eminent becomes the phil- 

 osopher ; and the stronger his "pull" on the credulity of his readers, the higher the 

 price of the book and the wider the play of his fancies. Yet the guild of anglers 

 has stood listening and entranced for eighteen centuries. Strange that so much 

 inspiration can be drawn from a single string ! But is it not time we had a new 

 version? 



I have l.ad faith that a master spirit might yet appear who would aerate the 

 pool, and place himself in such perfect touch with his readers that when he leads 

 one to the river side (in his mind), be it adept or novice, he will be able to imbue 

 him with the full power of the subtle sentiment which animates the pastime of 

 salmun fishing. By such quality he may evoke all the possibilities of the theme. 

 and we shall have not only the intrinsic melody, but the full symphony. By som^ 

 sort of mental metathesis he will put his pupil in the place of himself. He will 

 guide him to the swirling pool and point out the exact spot in the curl of the rapid 

 where he shall toss his fly. He will act as mentor to him all the way through, 

 precisely as if he were in bodily presence beside him the only difference being that 

 instead of jogging his elbow here and giving a timely hint there, the angler will be 

 left entirely to the exercise of his own judgment and discretion when he comes to 

 wield the wand. Given a manual of tactics for an infinite number of hypothetical 

 situations, prescribing for each a process, and coupling whys with wherefores, and 

 causes with effects, he will have full liberty to make his own selection of materials 

 and methods. He pays his money for his information, and he takes his choice ; 

 only he may not be able to catch any fish ! However, no writer that I know of, save 

 one, has ever exhibited the rare faculty required to produce a true vade-mecum 

 for the salmon fisher, and he, unfortunately for the craft, seldom airs his knowledge 

 through the medium of cold type. If he only would put it to practical test? No 

 one can afford to go salmon fishing nowadays unless he has a mint of money ; and 

 the man who does go has his object lessons right before him. What need has he of 

 s ooks when he can have realism? Substance is better than the semblance. And of 

 what value are books to the multitude who are disbarred ? Angling books have had 

 their day. Nowadays the canoe-man does all the coaching. Very few salmon 

 anglers undertake the rough work of the old school. They do not care to pit their 



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