chut. n. Playing a Mahmr. 13 



a pound a minute. A twenty pound fish Bbould bo jrom own in 

 twenty minutes or thereabouts, according to the water in which you 



have to ti<„'ht him. By continuity of pressure, unremitting strain 

 without one moment's respite, you keep the fish out of breath, ami 

 thereby neutralize the latent muscular power which a little 

 breathing space would Boon renew, ami give you all your work t" 

 do over again. This is how it is that Borne people play an ordinary 

 salmon for long hours, and think they have a mosl extraordinarily 

 game fish on. It is the same principle on which " the mighty b 

 is speared. Press him to his very utmost sjieeil from the first, ami 

 keep him at it, and you will soon overhaul him, but let him go at 

 his own pace, a pace that will not distress him, and he will keep 

 you at an English hunting gallop tiH he walks away from you, the 

 horse giving in before the boar, that is, if he is at all a traa 



Pig- 



I have a theory that if the strain on the fish is kept as much 

 as possible at right angles to the current, it has a greater effect on 

 him than any other strain. If the fish is down stream playing 

 lazily about, not vigorously, perhaps meditating sulks, it is obvious 

 that he is at a great advantage, he has the whole weight of the 

 stream in his favour, and you distress him very little in comparison 

 to the pull on your rod. He is practically resting and recruiting. 

 But get the pull to bear at right angles to the force of the current 

 and he cannot help exerting himself to keep his nose straight to 

 the stream. If he allows himself to be pulled out of his position, 

 and gets ever so slightly side on to the stream, in he comes towards 

 shore immediately, is frightened at the prospect, and dashes off 

 again just as you would have him. 'rims you keep him at it, and 

 very soon tire him out. In deep water, however, you may be 

 equally satisfied you are wasting no power by pulling the fish 

 upwards, for the specific gravity of a fish being very little gri 

 than that of water, he gains next to nothing by his weight while in 

 the water, and he must keep on exerting himself to swim down- 

 wards, with his head down and tail up, to resist your upward 

 strain, and as in that direction he can never swim beyond the 

 bottom, you are ensured againsl any violent rush A friend wrote 

 to me of a fish boring at first, and then making a free fight with 

 a good deal of spluttering on the surface. I do not look upon this 

 spluttering on the surface as fighting, but as an indication that the 



