232 ROD AND RIVER 



bably be too great for the joint of the net, and it 

 may break, which is not to be desired. If the net 

 is of the proper dimensions and shape, such as I 

 have described, when it is drawn towards the bank 

 it forms, with that portion of the hoop against 

 which it is pressed, a kind of closed purse, out of 

 which there is no chance of the fish escaping, and 

 any undue strain being placed on the joint is 

 obviated. 



If the services of an assistant are requisitioned 

 to land a fish, he should be especially careful to 

 keep below it on the down-stream side of the 

 angler. Why, it is, I conclude, hardly necessary 

 for me to state. A smart tap on the head will at 

 once suffice to kill the fish, and enable the hook 

 to be removed without inflicting further suffering 

 on the poor struggling creature, or subjecting the 

 fisherman to the possibility of having his finger 

 lacerated by the point of the hook. He might 

 also perchance find the latter doing the double 

 duty of catching him as well as the fish a some- 

 what ludicrous, though doubtless painful, state of 

 affairs. Yet such things have happened, as I 

 know to my cost. 



Fish at times get foul-hooked. When this 

 occurs the angler must look out for squalls. 

 Should he, as I have done on two or three occa- 

 sions, succeed in hooking a fish by the tail, he 

 may expect a considerable amount of excitement ; 



