878 MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY. 



length, or links, must be about three yards, with a swivel, as 

 well to help the bait's playing freely as to prevent the line 

 from twisting and breaking ; a large shot or two, about a 

 foot from the bait, will keep it under water when played, 

 and which may be either added to or diminished, according 

 to the strength of the current, (for this kind of angling is 

 chiefly in the streams,) and is best when water is clearing off 

 after a fresh, or when upon the rise, before it becomes too 

 thick. The rod must have a stiffer top than for fly-fishing, 

 the hook large and long in the shank, with a very small one 

 fixed above, at nearly the distance of the length of the fish 

 with which the larger hook is baited ; the bait to be drawn 

 upon the hook like a worm, by putting it into the mouth, 

 and bending it round the curve of the hook until it comes 

 out a little above the tail, so as to keep the tail a trifle bent ; 

 the small hook (which should be made blunt at the point) 

 must then be put through the lips of the fish, to prevent its 

 slipping into the head of the larger one. Some use a leaded 

 and others a snap-hook ; but the above method is preferable. 

 When thus prepared the line should be let out from the reel, 

 about the length of the rod, the bait thrown across the 

 stream, and the line drawn with a pretty brisk motion up it, 

 which causes the bait to spin well, and entices the large fish 

 to take it. Some anglers strike salmon as they seize the 

 bait, but it is the surest way to let them go down with it for 

 a time. Those who accustom themselves to strike imme- 

 diately should be careful, when a salmon runs at the bait, 

 not to snatch it away through surprise before he takes it, as 

 is frequently done, even by tolerable anglers. 



Dr. Fleming says, the favourite food of the salmon while in 

 the ocean is the sand-eel ; and Sir William Jardine says, 

 " In the north of Sutherland a mode of fishing for salmon is 

 sometimes successfully practised in the friths, where sand- 



