Salmon Fishing. 149 



but when it does he is a good one. Fish when hooked in it don't often go 

 down either, knowing the trouble they had to get up, but they do sometimes ; 

 and then Jerusalem ! don't they go ! Now if this happened on the south 

 side, it would be simply " goloptious," because you could follow your fish at a 

 good hand gallop, and be well above him ; but it never hardly does happen 

 on that side, because the rising spot is in a whirl on the other side; 

 and, though you may pitch across to it, it is all the wrong way, for you 

 not only draw with the stream, but your fly is whisked away by the whirl 

 before the fish has time to "vizzy " it. The Doctor told me that he never 

 knew a fish killed that went down that stream, and he had hardly ever 

 known one hooked on the south side. Curiously enough my friend G., the 

 very first time he fished that hole, hooked a rare fish on that side. The fish 

 made for the rapid, and, unfortunately, the gaffsman seeing the rod 

 bucketing heavily, cried out, "Let him go, sir, and folly him;" and, as 

 G. never did anything he was told, but always the reverse, he stood fast, 

 hung on to the fish, and held him hard for a moment on the brink of 

 the fall, when the stout salmon hook smashed, and the fish was away. 

 It was after this that his gaffsman chucked him up, and wouldn't go 

 with him again. When I told the Doctor of it his face was a study. 



" The biggest muffs have the best luck. I'd have given fifty pounds 

 to have had that chance. Such a lovely run along the bank, too. I don't 

 think it was ever done but once ; and I never hooked but one -fish 

 myself on the other side that went down, and I shall never forget him. 

 He did give me a twister. It was a big fish, 301b. and over. As soon as 

 I hooked him over he went. Pat Mackay was with me, and we followed 

 at the most breakneck pace, floundering over more rocks, now up, now 

 down, Pat clearing away whatever he could, and making a hole in the 

 wall. The fish went skimming down as fast as a swallow, and would 

 have cleaned my reel out, in spite of all I could do, if I hadn't got a 

 little pull on him midway, where there is a little bit of a lay by, a 

 mere teapot. Well, sir, he run us down to the big pool below, and, 

 when we got there, both Pat and I were so pumped neither of us 

 could have blown a candle out ; but we had gloriously threaded the 

 passage, and the fish was still on. I played him for another ten minutes 



