200 THE PRACTICAL FISHERMAN. 



without recourse to the test of the rod. Some of the most likely looking 

 spots are without fish, for some unaccountable reason or other, and vice 

 vers&. A guide is always a safe investment, and if he be a thorough angler 

 himself so much the better. It is in that case infinitely better to trust 

 to his judgment than your own. If one cannot be got, it may be taken as 

 a general rule that salmon Dame Berners notwithstanding do not lie 

 out in the broad stream. They may be passing, but their resting-place 

 is never in the open water. Like trout somewhat, they are likelier to be 

 lying behind or amongst large stones, and on each side of sharp currents. 

 Of course, where the current is not rapid, they will lie, like any other fish, 

 in any part of the water. The boiling water underneath weirs is not to 

 their taste, but where it runs swiftly and smoothly away, there may a 

 salmon be found. " Ephemera" says, " In the early spring months, 

 when there is a succession of fine open weather, salmon are found in all 

 parts of pools, heads and tails, and if in the latter locality there be a 

 large block of stone, forming an easily stemmed eddy, they will be found 

 in it ; because it is at the same time a good resting and a good feeding 

 place. Salmon fight for such comfortable spots, the strongest and 

 bravest taking possession of them, and when one fish is hooked and 

 taken away another fish invariably fills the vacated locality. It is for this 

 reason that a generally favourite spot is never without an aquatic 

 tenant." And this is true of nearly all fish, and may be considered 

 an axiom of unquestionable wisdom. " The best fish are found in the 

 best places," no doubt in obedience to the majestic law of natural 

 selection. 



There are one or two other methods of fishing for salmon which must 

 not be forgotten, particularly as they are suggested by both Berners 

 and Barker in old time as having been the only kind or nearly so of 

 angling for this fish. They are spinning and bottom fishing. I commence 

 with spinning, as being the more important of these. 



Spinning for salmon is usually by means of the eel tail, minnow, or 

 artificial bait. The eel tail is remarkably effectual at times, and consists, 

 as the reader is aware from my reference to it in the chapter on pike, of 

 the tail of an eel, through which a leaded hook is passed. The tail is 

 better for having been left two or three weeks in dry salt, which seems 

 to increase its toughness and fix its colour to a pale blue. It should be 

 soaked in fresh water for some hours before using. The minnow is also 

 used occasionally on strong tackle similar to that for trout, but its success 

 is by no means so marked as is the case with the eel tail. Artificial baits, 

 such as the phantom, piano convex, and spoon, are useful in some rivers, 

 but only doubtful praise can be awarded these methods as compared with 

 the fly and fly rod. 



The way of using the baits is almost identical with that pursued for 



