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CHAPTER XIV. 



Fishing a Strange River Alterations in Rivers by Floods 

 Taking Places Fishing the Water An Amateur at Work 

 ' Potted Fish 'Water and Weather. 



A FISHERMAN visiting a salmon river for the first 

 time is generally at a loss to ascertain which are 

 the best places to try for fish, unless he has the 

 assistance of a keeper or gillie who is well 

 acquainted with the water and its peculiarities. 



No two streams are exactly alike. In each one 

 there are some pools and reaches which are better 

 than others, and in each pool or reach there are 

 one or more spots which are what is termed the 

 ' taking places,' each one of which requires to be 

 fished in one particular way, in order that the fly 

 may be presented to the fish, which are known or 

 supposed to be lying there, in the most alluring 

 manner. A stranger to a river is, therefore, con- 

 siderably handicapped, and until he has learned 

 his way about it he cannot expect to do full justice 

 to himself, let him be ever so good a fisherman. 

 And there is so much to learn on every river, 



