106 The Atlantic Salmon 



parative tyro, who had been fishing below, had, 

 soon after beginning, changed his fly to a No. 4 

 Silver Doctor, with which he had pricked one 

 fish, broken his casting line on another, and landed 

 two of twenty-three and twenty-five pounds. The 

 moral of this tale is to always use rather smaller 

 flies than you think the water requires. 



When a fish rises short, it is a good plan to 

 change the fly for one of a size smaller before 

 casting over him again. I think a fish is a little 

 more likely to come a second time if this is done. 

 He is more on the alert than before he saw a fly 

 at all, and would naturally be apter to notice a 

 smaller object. 



The changing of flies is a vexed question and 

 one of the many unsolved problems regarding 

 the salmon. It may be the prevailing opinion 

 among salmon at certain times of their sojourn in 

 fresh water, that a particular size or pattern of 

 fly is worth seizing while they regard all others 

 with silent contempt. Anglers generally assume 

 the existence of this condition on inadequate 

 grounds. A man, for instance, fishes halfway 

 down a pool with a Silver Doctor and stirs noth- 

 ing. He changes to a Durham Ranger, forth- 

 with hooks a fish, and thereafter firmly believes 



