FISHING THEORIES. 39 



Surjoo valley, as the warm and steamy atmosphere, biting 

 flies, &c., made sport there, at that season, more toilsome than 

 pleasant. The months of March and April are, I think, the 

 best for mahseer-fishing, as the climate is then more pleasant 

 and healthy in these low valleys than during September and 

 October the best autumn months and the fish in the moun- 

 tain streams more readily take the fly, and are in better con- 

 dition in spring. It is said that on the days which succeed 

 moonlight nights, mahseer are not so readily taken as they 

 are after moonless ones ; and strange to say, they are generally 

 more easily moved on bright sunny days than on dark cloudy 

 ones. The flies that seem to suit their taste as well as any, 

 are bright and gaudy ones that show well in the water, like 

 the " Jock Scott " or the Dee " Gordon," of various sizes up to 

 at least 2J inches for big fish, and perhaps one with black 

 wings tipped with white, and black hackle and body ribbed 

 with silver, for a complete change. But, like salmon, they 

 will take almost anything when they are in the humour, and 

 will look at nothing when they are not. I have not implicit 

 faith in fishing theories respecting either salmon or mahseer, 

 for I have often killed both fish under circumstances which 

 are ordinarily considered most adverse. For instance, in 

 Canada one evening I was fishing when it had grown so dark 

 that only by the bright flashes of lightning could I see where 

 my line was ; yet I fairly hooked and landed a salmon of 9 

 Ib. whilst the thunder was rattling around like great guns. I 

 should like very much to know why the salmon of the western 

 rivers of North America are so difficult to kill with the fly, 

 whereas in the eastern rivers they take it so freely. One 

 thing, however, is quite as important in mahseer-fishing as in 

 fishing for salmon namely, the size of flies to suit the state of 

 the water ; but when the angler has constantly to be changing 

 his fly, depend upon it there is something wrong and that 

 generally lies more with the humour of the fish than with 

 the fly. 



