34 Where to Fish for Salmon. 



all obstacles, for I had no time to wind up short or 

 get a strain on him ; however, I had him safe in 

 the lower pool and quickly gaffed him, a fine silvery- 

 fish often pounds. 



As a general rule, however, a stranger to a river, 

 when first fishing it, must follow implicitly the 

 advice of the gillie or fisherman, if he wishes for 

 sport, as these men know every hole and corner 

 where fish are wont to lie, though they are often much 

 astonished when a fish is taken in any other part 

 of the river. I was fishing in the Lochy, in the 

 autumn, and I hooked a fish in a part of the river 

 usually only frequented by sea trout ; as my line 

 tightened and I felt the fish, I said, ** Duncan, he's 

 a fish." " No, sir, I don't think it, only a trout ; I 

 never saw a fish rise there." Well, his manner of 

 running and tugging made me doubt, but Duncan 

 was obstinate, and persisted ** that only trout rose 

 there," but gradually he wakened up. " I think it is 

 a fish whatever, and he's bigger than I thought. 

 Perhaps you had better get out of the boat." As I 

 wound up he again sung out, " Only a big trout." 

 *' No, Duncan, a fish I'll bet," and sure enough as 

 we got him into shallow water, Duncan had to give 

 up and gaff a beautiful fresh-run grilse of seven 

 pounds. " Well," he said, " I never saw a fish take 

 there before." 



Two curious instances of what may be called 



