138 



I once had some very good sport on tliis river witli the 

 prawn, when the fish would not look at a fly, and when it 

 was labour in vain to cast over them. 



The use of prawns as lure for salmon is comparativelj' 

 new, and most fly fishermen deplore its introduction. 

 Among-st fish resting in pools, and fresh up from the sea, 

 this method of fishing- is often very deadly, but salmon are 

 kittle cattle, and there is never any certainty about them. 

 Like Avomen: 



" When they will, they ■svill, you may depend on't ; 

 When they won't, they won't ; 

 And there's an end on't ! " 



As yet, no two men are agreed upon the right way to fish 

 a prawn, and everyone swears by his own method. Anglers 

 are constantly asking advice upon the subject, but those 

 who are best able to supply the information observe a dis- 

 creet silence. Few men care to confess that they have 

 resorted to pot-hunting methods of angling, and fewer still 

 will plead guilty to having fallen so low in the scale as to 

 tempt " salmo salar " to liis fate with a worm ! It is no part 

 of my present purpose to discuss the ethics of angling, but 

 when everything else has failed, I have occasionally re- 

 sorted to a shrimp — not a prawn — and when my sins are 

 counted I can plead as a set-off that I have never caught a 

 salmon on a worm. And this brings me to the practical 

 part of this chapter. According to my experience, red 

 shrimps will kill far better than prawns, and the shrimps 

 are far more easily obtained, besides being one-tenth of the 

 price of the larger Crustacea. In fast rivers, the shrimps 

 should be cast, and fished, exactly as you would a salmon 

 fly, working it slowly, and striking to the rise, or " rug," as. 

 the case may be. In deep, heavy pools, where the water 

 travels slowly, float fishing may, and with advantage, be 

 adopted — but do not strike until the first run of a few 

 yards is over, and the float has subsequently " bobbed " twice 

 and disappeared. On the Shannon, and other fast rivers, 

 it is the practice to pass the snood of the hook through the 

 head of the prawn or shrimp, bringing the baiting needle 



