THE SALMON. 875 



With the stream, while a gentle gradual motion is given by 

 the hand to keep it upon the surface, and the angler must 

 strike the moment the fish rises ; for the salmon will not take 

 the fly under water ; but when they take, they break the 

 water fairly. In a very rapid river or deep loch, the hook 

 ought to be thick wired, otherwise the violence of the current 

 will prevent the flies keeping any even motion, and thereby 

 the fish will fail in seizing it when he rises ; and in a deep 

 loch the water which the salmon forces before him when 

 he rises will throw it on one side, and by that means the 

 fish will also miss the fly : in moderate streams, and in 

 waters of a medium depth, the small wire hooks are best. 



The salmon being so unsteady a fish in his feeding, the 

 season varying in difierent rivers, it is difiicult to state the 

 precise time at which the respective flies should be used ; 

 but the following flies are arranged in- the order in which 

 they succeed each other. The brown fly appears in April, 

 and may be used in many localities successfully until Sep- 

 tember ; and the grey mallard follows, and may be used for 

 the remainder of the season. The hooks to be used are from 

 Ifos. 1 to 5, according to season, state of the water, and 

 weight of the fish. 



The Brown-fly. — The wings are constructed with the 

 long gold-coloured feather, which is situate noar the tail of 

 the cock pheasant ; the body to be formed of the fur of 

 a hare's neck, mixed with one-third of its quantity of the 

 fur of a brown cow. When the weather is bright, in addi- 

 tion to the above, the body with twisted gold will be found 

 beneficial, over which must be wrapped a red cock's hackle. 



The Blue-fly. — The wings composed of the shaded feather 

 of the hen pheasant's tail, and the body of a peacock's herle, 

 with a pale red hackle over it. 



The KiNG-FJSHER. — Wings of the feather of a heron's tail, 



