ANGLING AS A REAL FIELD SPORT 23 



rect sense of touch and balance. Others suffer from 

 love of change ; disloyal to the old friend which fitted 

 their hand to a nicety, they discard it for the passing 

 attractions of some newly-advertised pattern. 



It is distressing to watch the efforts of the right 

 man with the wrong rod, or vice versa. With man and 

 rod in harmony the latter does the real work ; unfitted 

 to each other, the power of man and rod is alike at its 

 worst. Unfortunately this matter is one upon which 

 the angler must be his own teacher ; but the angler's 

 troubles, in the majority of instances, arise from the 

 fatal predilection for a rod heavier than the owner can 

 legitimately bear, or from the use of a line too fine or 

 too coarse for the rod. Exercise is then over-exercise, 

 injurious, and not good for body or temper. 



Salmon fishing from a boat is imagined by some to 

 be objectionable because it demands no exertion by 

 the angler. This is an erroneous conclusion, though 

 doubtless the method brings certain muscles into play 

 to an unequal degree. At the same time, fishing from 

 the bank, as it is called for convenience, though the 

 angler never stands upon one, is the most enjoyable 

 of all methods. There is a rapture in the stream as in 

 the pathless woods. 



In the foregoing remarks upon heavy rods I had 

 possibly in my mind the angler whose life is not entirely 

 devoted to the open air. The increase to which refer- 

 ence has been made has been chiefly from the class of 

 professional men, merchants, and others who have duties 

 which allow of only occasional relaxation devoted to 

 the river. To such the donning of wading gear for 

 the first time in the season, the entrance into the clear 

 running water, the cautious advance upon the amber 

 gravel or solid rock, the swirl of the rushing stream 

 around the knees, the sensation of cold through the 



