SALMON FISHING. 71 



that no gillie was needed to point me out the best rising-places ; they 

 spoke for themselves and told their own tale. 



My first evening produced two clean-run fish of i6ilb. and 8 1b., 

 and my host, when he saw them later, began to think that, after all, 

 there might be something in angling. The second evening the river 

 was up and unfishable, but by the third evening it had fined down 

 into order, and I got a beauty of 20 lb. and a small salmon of 7^ lb. 

 The glowing accounts I gave of the play of these fish at length excited 

 my host, and, even at the cost of his rubber of bridge, the next evening 

 saw him by my side, carefully fishing a leg of mutton pool near the 

 house, where I had seen and risen a fish the night before. I had to 

 hold the rod with him and show him how to cast, but I knew pretty 

 well where my fish lay, and that he was within easy reach. We worked 

 down to the spot, and, sure enough, up he came with a grand head 

 and tail rise, hooking himself handsomely. Leaving the rod in my friend's 

 hands, I told him that he had to do the rest. The first rush nearly 

 pulled the rod down to the water level, my friend hanging on like 

 grim death. Fortunately, the gut was sound and stood the strain. 

 Nearly dying with laughter at his frantic appeals for help and advice, 

 I shouted to him to keep his rod point up, thoroughly enjoying the 

 fact that he was having a taste of what he had characterised as a "poor 

 and tame kind of sport." 



As I particularly wanted him to catch that fish I went to his 

 assistance. Trembling with excitement and bathed in perspiration, he 

 was, shortly afterwards, delightedly examining his first salmon, a clean- 

 run hen fish of 16 lb. I never shall forget his shake of the hand and 

 his exclamation, " By Jupiter ! you have taught me something, this is 

 worth living for ! " Needless to say, he is now mad keen on salmon 

 angling, and a very capable performer to boot. 



Many of us, however, not quite so young as we were, are paying 

 the penalty of imprudent wading in the times when we scorned to put 

 on wading trousers. The rheumatic twinges, that hesitation about deep 

 wading in rivers with bad bottoms, all these are largely bred of our 

 former contempt for getting wet, and our ill-founded confidence in our 

 powers of resisting the effects of such very minor matters as wet legs 

 and feet. We therefore find our choice of fishing water still more 



