<ii ait. x. The Theory of Striking. 133 



are not sure of till they have thus tried it. only on this principle 

 oan wo understand a Salmon taking into Ins month all the 



extraordinary coloured artificial Hies ho does, not like anvthini: 

 that he has seen in the sea. An extra reason Ear a tish taking 

 unknown things into its mouth for examination is, that in rivers 

 they are carried past bo rapidly, that the fish has not time to trust 



entirely to the rye. It is this brief interval, then, between sucking 

 in for investigation, in the belief that the artificial fly is or may be 

 food, and the blowing of it out again on the detection of the 

 fraud, that you have for striking your tish. In the case of the 

 Salmon and Mahseer you are helped at the critical moment by the 

 fish's habit i >f descending to its place at the bottom, and by the 

 weight of the fish tautening your line, so that if your line is 

 thrown and kept straight as it should be, the tautening takes 

 effect at once, you only have to resist and hold on to it, much as 

 you would to a stumbling horse. The Trout helps )'ou just a little 

 by the same habit of descending to his place at the bottom, but 

 the Trout's weight is not enough to tauten your line decidedly, 

 and the trout line is by no means always straight, especially when 

 throwing up and pulling down stream with so light a line, and 

 when throwing across it is often bellied by the force of the stream, 

 and when there is wind to contend with it is impossible to throw 

 a light Trout line quite as straight as a heavier Salmon or Mahseer 

 line. Consequently you need to strike quick for a Trout, as quick 

 i like, you can't have too quick an eye and wrist. But the 

 hero of this chapter, like the Dace, the Barbus fUamentosus, and 

 others to whom I shall introduce you, does not descend to take 

 up his place at the bottom ; he does not aid you, therefore, the 

 slightest bit in taking the slack out of your line, and the interval 

 left you for hooking him is shorter. In consequence you have to 

 strike if possible still more quickly. On these grounds I hold that 

 you cannot strike too quickly for the Camatic Carp. With this 

 idea in my head, I have watched these fish. They were taking 

 some small natural fly very freely, and refusing to look at our 

 artificial flies, showing thereby that our flies were not like 

 their natural food then on the water, yet now and again at long 

 intervals, when there was less natural food on the water, some 

 one fish would take our fly out of pure curiosity. Thus the 

 nturous got taken in. The much-lisle d Trout has learnt that 



