256 THE PRACTICAL FISHERMAN. 



get out himself than that you should endeavour to pull him out, for in 

 the latter case trout have an artful and effective knack of spreading out 

 their fins when they object to coercion, and thus retarding their passage 

 in a manner not only irritating to the angler, but destructive in the 

 majority of cases to his tackle. 



The landing of a fish should always be most deliberately done. It is 

 much better to play it for a few minutes longer than endeavour to skull- 

 drag it out, or to endeavour to get it into the landing net before it is 

 fairly exhausted. If it be hooked in the mouth, say the upper lip, the 

 unvarying strain of the line soon so interferes with the free play of the 

 gills, as to induce a sort of suffocation, which, if it does not absolutely 

 kill the trout, tends greatly to stupify it, and render its struggles object- 

 less, and, indeed, without plan. On the other hand, if it be, as is very 

 often the case when trout are rising freely, hooked in the fins or other 

 part of the body outside, its water powers are not materially interfered 

 with, and very often piscator plays for a considerable time a fish which 

 appears of ample weight in the water, but afterwards turns out of 

 inferior size much to his disappointment. 



Should the fly get entangled in a weed of the ordinary brook kind, the 

 lay of which is down stream, let him even retire down stream, and then 

 endeavour, with moderate force, to jerk it free. This is the plan to be 

 preferred before a steadfast pull, because the thin steel of the hook will 

 often cut the weed when an exertion of strength would not result in the 

 breakage of the branch of weed. 



The young angler very often gets "hung up" in a branch of an 

 opposite tree. This is a most common occurrence indeed with even the 

 experienced fly fisherman. Of course, the more expert the angler 

 becomes in throwing the fly to a particular point the less is the chance 

 of such a disaster. However, when such an emergency arises there are 

 several methods of endeavouring to get free. The first is, of course, to 

 try the "jerk judicious ;" the next is to tie a bullet to the end of a 

 stoutish string, and try to throw it over the twig in question. Having 

 accomplished this, gently sway it backwards and forwards till a close 

 entanglement has been effected, then away comes twig and all. A kind 

 of knife, with a hollow handle, which can be placed on to the top of the 

 rod, so as to sever the branch, has been devised. Mr. Francis gives a 

 drawing of it, and its usefulness is often great. After all, however, 

 the experienced angler has but seldom to resort to any other expedient 

 than the "jerk judicious." 



I am exceeding fond of using the dry fly, and on clear bright days fish 

 may be killed by this bait when the wet fly is of no avail. The flies, 

 duns for example, as they make their appearance on the water on a bright 



