74 BT KOOZ AND BY CBOOK. 



frequently be heard, " I never take longer than (so 

 many) minutes to kill a fish'"; but our experience is 

 that in practice these gentlemen take a good deal 

 longer than most people; but there can be no object 

 in pulling fish out by the roots, and with single gut it 

 is simply absurd. On the other hand there is nothing 

 to be gained, on the contrary there may be a good 

 deal to lose, by allowing a fish to take liberties, as he is 

 never safe until on the bank, even then not always so. 



Nine cases out of ten the angler has to give line, or 

 rather allow the fish to take it, during the early stages 

 of the fight ; but he should always be made to work to 

 take it ofi" the reel, then as the fish gets weaker the 

 angler can put on increased pressure and so hasten 

 the end. 



The main thing is to hold the point of the rod well 

 up, so that the weight of the fish and any sudden jerks 

 he may give shall fall on it and not on the line. 



Instances occur now and again when it is impossible, 

 with any regard to safety, to give line, and on the 

 other hand it is at times imperative to give it ; of course 

 then the angler can only make the best of a bad job. 



After a few minutes' play the experienced angler can 

 form a shrewd guess how the fish is hooked, and will 

 shape his tactics accordingly ; but in the absence of any 

 such indication, in fact as a general rule, our experience 

 is that the best plan to adopt after having hooked a 

 fish, is to hold him only fairly hard and allow him 

 to take the initiative. 



