136 THE SALMON. 



no gaff hook as it injures the appearance of the fish ; but as it is 

 very difficult to land a weighty fish by hand, I don't consider the 

 gaff can often safely be dispensed with. 



Salmon flies are not often intended to represent any particular 

 insect : the form is generally that of the dragon fly although of all 

 sorts of gaudy colours. Sometimes a fly like the May fly only twice 

 the size, is found to answer. There is also a good fly made with 

 brown sable, with a bold red hackle wound round it, and with a 

 gilt tag at the end of the tail, the wings being of the grey feather 

 of a mallard ; as also the horse leech fly, having a long body of 

 deep blue floss silk inclining to purple, with a black hackle under 

 the wings, which should be of the dark speckled feather of a teal. 

 The hooks should be long in the shank of the best temper. In 

 this respect the Limerick are the best ; but from their form, 

 I do not consider they keep so firm a hold as those of the Kirby 

 bend. 



It often however happens that a salmon rises at an ordinary 

 trout fly, when in fact his presence is by no means anticipated, 

 though he never can prove an unwelcome visitor ; in fact the only 

 drawback is the apprehension of your too soon parting company, 

 as is too often found to occur even at your very earliest saluta- 

 tions : still many a noble salmon has been caught with the ordina- 

 ry trout tackle, a feat highly creditable when it can be accomplished, 

 particularly with a high conditioned fish^fresh run from the sea. 



But though the fly is decidedly the sporting lure for a salmon, 

 they are sometimes taken with a well scoured lob worm ; and 

 honest Izaak mentions an angling acquaintance of his who was re- 

 markably fortunate in angling in this way for salmon, and that he 

 made his baits the more enticing, by putting his worms for a half 

 an hour or so in a small box, which was anointed with a drop, or 

 two or three of the oil of ivyberries, which imparted a kind of 

 smell that was irresistibly attractive ; enough indeed to force any 

 fish within the smell of them to bite. But the most certain bait 

 of all seems to be the preserved spawn of their own species, which 

 if baited so as to cover a large sized hook and cast into a pool and 

 allowed to lay ledger there, and there is a salmon in it, he 

 will most probably erelong smell it out and feast on it with- 

 out scruple. 



Salmon are sometimes taken, and still oftener hooked in spinning 

 the minnow for trout, though upon the whole it is not so attractive 



