THE SALMON. 185 



mode, not calculated to alarm quite so forcibly, the sharp edge of the 

 steel may often be taken out of him, and you may negotiate your 

 exchanges upon terms of more equality, in case the hooking place is 

 broken water dangerous with sunken rocks or other obstructions, as it 

 sometimes is." 



Thus Mr. Francis, than whom there is no more practical angler 

 living. Yet notice the divergence of opinion between these two masters 

 of the gen* 1 A craft. One recommends " a strong determined stroke, 

 bringing the J.ne up as flat as a knife " whatever that may mean 

 " am*, driving the tapering point well in to the barb." These are Mr. 

 Penne!Ts words. Mr. Francis, on the other hand, speaks with consi- 

 derable uncertainty. " Ephemera," perhaps the finest salmon fisher that 

 ever put pen to paper, says, however, "nothing more than a gentle 

 stroke or short, sharpish pull, is necessary to insert in some part of the 

 fish's mouth some part of the barb," and with him I agree, and these 

 are my reasons : The salmon takes a bait in a widely different style to a 

 trout. This impetuous fish literally jumps, darts, flies at the bait, and it 

 is either into the mouth and himself turned, or it forced away again by 

 a volume of water, instantly. In such case an almost instant strike is 

 necessary. The case is, however, different with salmon. Its great bulk 

 renders its movements, notwithstanding its gigantic strength, of a slower 

 nature, and its run at the fly is in this particular vastly different to 

 that of a trout. Moreover, it rises up under the fly and takes it, causing 

 a break in the water, which is instantly immensely increased by the 

 downward plunge, which raises the water, and causes it to assume a sort 

 of swirling convexity. At this instant the stroke should be made, and 

 made swiftly, but not with continued and even vigour. The strong deter- 

 mined muscularity of Mr. Fennell' s stroke rouses the fiercest instincts of- 

 the fish if it hooks him, and often gives rise to a lot of unnecessary risk. 

 Besides if, as is some times the case, the hold of the hook promises to be 

 light and fragile, such violence will infallibly tear it out, and thus disturb 

 the temper of a fish whose voracity might, in all probability, otherwise 

 have suggested his trying again to secure the bait. A side strike is 

 often advisable, but this depends upon the circumstances under which 

 the fly was taken. 



I will now briefly treat on the selection of tackle and the methods of 

 playing the fish when fly fishing is the style resorted to. 



First, as to the rod. Opinions as to this indispensable part of the 

 salmon fisher's outfit are as divided as those concerning the " strike." 

 "Ephemera" says no rod should be longer than 17ft., and never less 

 than 16ft. Pennell gives the measurements of his rod, which was 18ft. 

 6in., and he says that " very broad waters sometimes demand a longer 



