FROM " GAME FISH OF THE NORTH." 213 



rending splash, all in a tangle, it is useless to make the 

 next cast properly. The fish have found out the trick, 

 and know too much to risk their necks in any such 

 noose. 



A skilful fisherman can cast almost any length of line, 

 but practically, fifty feet, counting from the reel, is all 

 that can be used to advantage. Some English books say 

 only the leader [gut links] should alight in the water ; 

 but this is nonsense, for at least one-half the line must 

 fall into the water, unless the fisherman stand on a high 

 bank. With a long line, the difficulties of striking and 

 landing the fish are greatly increased. In striking, there 

 is much slack line to be taken up. In landing, it re- 

 quires some time to get the fish under control, and he is 

 apt to reach the weeds or a stump. 



That most excellent fisherman and learned scholar, 

 Dr. Bethune, in his edition of Walton, Part II., page 

 73, says that candid anglers must confess that nine out 

 of ten trout hook themselves. This may be so in streams 

 teeming with fish, where a dozen start at once, frantically 

 striving to be the first ; but in clear, well-fished streams, 

 not one fish in a thousand will hook himself ; and on 

 Long Island, an angler would grow gray ere he filled 

 his basket if he did not strike, and that quickly. Strik- 

 ing, to my mind, is by far the most important point, and 

 hundreds of fish have I seen escape for want of quick- 

 ness. It must be done quickly but steadily, and not 

 with a jerk, as the latter is apt, by the double action of 

 the rod, to bend the tip forward, and loosen instead of 



