2 3 o ROD AND RIVER 



is a sell, and can't be helped. The best thing, 

 therefore, is to try and forget all about it, and to 

 devote one's self to the capture of some other, 

 worthier fish. It is well, when a fish takes to the 

 weeds, as above described, to try him from time 

 to time at frequent intervals, just to make sure 

 that he is really on the hook, and is not con- 

 gratulating himself on having made a fool of his 

 would-be captor. 



Playing a fish, under ordinary circumstances, is 

 merely a matter of give-and-take. It is as if two 

 persons were each to take hold of the ends of a 

 piece of string, one representing the fish and the 

 other the fisherman. When the one pulls the 

 other should give way, though the string should 

 never be allowed to get slack ; and so the game 

 proceeds, the only difference being that, in the 

 case of a fish, each succeeding effort to get free 

 but adds to its exhaustion, until it is finally forced 

 to yield to the power of the rod, and permit the 

 landing-net to be placed beneath it. After all, it 

 is but a matter of common-sense. The chief 

 difficulty rests with the touch the hands of the 

 angler. If his touch is sensitive, or, as it is 

 termed, his hands are ' light,' he will know exactly 

 how much or how little he can give or take from 

 the fish. 



Trout, salmon, etc., often spring into the air 

 when hooked. It is a dangerous sign, and 



