Tackle 85 



fly he would not notice a moment before. I 

 should, as the result of my own practice in 

 salmon angling, place the size of the fly as the 

 most important element in its selection, as I 

 believe that very often, though not always, it is 

 the size that first appeals to the desires of the 

 salmon which, up to a certain point, it is our aim . 

 to consider. Salmon will very frequently take 

 freely under similar conditions flies of one size 

 but of very different colors, but not often flies 

 of greatly varying sizes. Last summer I took 

 three fish from one pool, each hooking himself at 

 the first rise and having had no other fly over 

 him, on a Silver Doctor, a Durham Ranger, and 

 a Brown Fairy, all tied on No. 4 hooks. I tried 

 the experiment, as there was a number of fresh- 

 run fish in the pool, and I wanted to give the 

 question of size a fair trial with uniform condi- 

 tions, as nearly as could be obtained. 



I don't consider, however, that the result of 

 this experiment makes it at all certain that there 

 are not numerous occasions when a different 

 attitude on the part of the salmon might be 

 established. Indeed, I shall mention here- 

 after a notable instance or two wherein color 

 and not size was demanded. 



