ROD & CREEL 57 



To show to what extent a fish may fool you I will narrate an 

 incident that happened once. I was fishing with a prawn a 

 beautiful deep reach that I knew was quite clear of snags. The 

 water was deep enough with sufficient current for safe spinning. 

 I had just made a fairly long cast out into the deepest water and 

 the bait had not travelled far before it stopped without the 

 slightest suspicion of a pull. Warned by previous experience, I 

 struck but nothing but a dead pull resulted. After holding tight 

 for a few seconds I slackened off and then took a pull to try and 

 clear what I took to be some newly arrived snag. The result was 

 an answering pull, and the next second a beautiful fish was out 

 of the water and then away down stream. He proved to be a 

 perfectly fresh run fish of 11% pounds and I can only conclude 

 that the point of the hook was on a bone and did not prick him 

 until the second pull drove it home. 



If you have a strike and the fish misses, do not cast again at 

 once unless you feel sure he meant business and just made a bad 

 shot. Even so it is better to wait fifteen or twenty minutes; 

 your fish will not go away and you give him time to steady down 

 and are much more likely to be successful in the end. 



Playing Steelheads. You will play a steelhead just as you 

 would a salmon, though you will find that a good steelhead takes 

 more handling than a good salmon of the same size. They jump 

 higher from the water, more frequently, and now and again make 

 long jumps straight towards you, sometimes two or three in suc- 

 cession. In such cases the point of the rod should not be lowered, 

 but raised if possible. A steelhead will also make short, rapid 

 dashes in different directions as well as go up stream as fast as 

 down, and it is often impossible to keep a tight line. 



A steelhead will seldom go clean out of a "reach." You 

 may think he is going to, as they will go to the very verge of a 

 rapid and then just hang on the edge. In such a case do not 

 smash your rod or tackle trying to pull the fish back, if he wants 

 to go over he will do so in spite of you and all you can do is to 

 follow if possible, if not let him break the line sooner than your 

 rod. If the fish hangs on the edge of the rapid just hold tight 

 and leave him alone. He may hang there for what seems ages, 

 but sooner or later he will come up, at first perhaps only inch 

 by inch until he makes up his mind to begin the fight again. 

 Above all things try and keep him out of shallow water until he is 

 thoroughly done. You can usually do this by keeping opposite 

 to him and wading out if it is very shallow. Keep cool and do not 

 be in a hurry to land him, and if he is well hooked and your 

 tackle is good he will be yours. 



