CASTING FROM ROCKS AND BOATS 189 



which some faddy people pretend to think a nuisance. 

 It is to the angler what the trumpet is to the war 

 horse. 



This was precisely what happened to me on the 

 evening of which I write. The bent grilse rod described 

 an arc that only a salmon could make. He went 

 straight down, thirty, forty, fify, sixty yards without a 

 possibility of check, even if one were so foolish as to 

 wish to stop a strongly running fish. At the first 

 slackening of speed, however, it is always wise to put 

 on a little pressure, and cautiously begin with the 

 winch. After such a run a salmon will generally respond 

 to the slow winding in of the line, and, although after 

 he has advanced ten or fifteen yards he may make 

 another spurt, you have him more under control than 

 in the first burst. A taut line, a bending rod never 

 for a moment allowed to unbend, and a firm yet sym- 

 pathetic finger and thumb at the winch handle are 

 enough. Just keep cool, you and your man. Knut, I 

 may say, had to learn his management of a boat for 

 fishing purposes from me, and, therefore, knew the im- 

 portance of being ready on the instant to pull ashore, 

 when and how he was ordered in a crisis. On this occa- 

 sion we had fixed upon our landing place, and Knut 

 had already received orders to pull steadily towards it 

 if I hooked a fish. In his excitement he put on the 

 pace a little too much, a source of danger met by 

 letting the line ease the position. 



The salmon was incessant in short, sharp rushes, but, 

 in course of time, we were out of the stream into easy 

 water, although the fish had returned half a dozen times 

 before he relinquished the advantage of the current. 

 He became convinced, however, that resistance was 

 vain, and stubbornly allowed himself to be towed on 

 and on to land. Ole, eagerly waiting in the cove, gaff 



