144 LETTERS TO YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



salmon with a minnow. I am, of course, assuming that he 

 will throw from off one of the specially made, patent, free- 

 running reels. To hold the coils of line in your fingers 

 and let them fly off without a tangle is an art which some 

 few men whom I have watched with admiration have brought 

 to a wonderful perfection, but it is an art which demands 

 years of apprenticeship, and few become masters of it 

 even so. For all our practical uses the labour-saving 

 reels are good enough, and I should commend them 

 to every young angler, if only because life is short 

 and the angling art is long. You will be tolerably tired 

 of my telling you of the virtue of correct " timing," yet I have 

 to repeat that monition once again. The throwing out of the 

 bait, off the reel, is done more by a swing than anything in 

 the nature of a flick, although the elasticity of the rod's top 

 joint, much stiff er and steelier than that of the fly rod, gives 

 all help in the cast. It is done by a swing and a turn of the 

 body, and, of course, your finger will be checking the line, 

 so that the weight of the bait does not pull it off the reel 

 until the instant that you release it to go hurtling through the 

 air, the choice of the exactly right moment for release com- 

 bined with the pace of swing, gradually increased to its maxi- 

 mum at the moment of letting go, constitutes successful 

 throwing. I notice that beginners are apt to allow the bait 

 to depend with rather too much line from the rod top as they 

 cast. A very few feet of line is sufficient measure. 



You will make much better work of it if you cast from 

 one of the short spinning rods made for the purpose, than with 

 a stiffer top affixed to your ordinary fly rod, as an alternative 

 to its own proper top. This is a device which commends 

 itself to some because it reduces the paraphernalia to carry ; 

 but the spinning rod is a small, and not a very expensive 

 addition ; you certainly can do better with it ; and the 

 spinning work is not very good for the more delicate fly rod. 

 Moreover, in salmon fishing, you will generally have a gillie. 



I. write generally, because that has been my general 

 experience. Nevertheless, the days of salmon fishing to 

 which I look back with most keen delight are those when 

 I have been out alone, and have gaffed the fish for myself 

 with a small " telescopic " gaff, which can be carried in the 



