SECRETS OF THE SALMON 



and should be as thin as possible, so that it will 

 offer small resistance to the current when the fish 

 has taken out a long line. Sometimes the mere 

 friction of the line in the water is enough to pull 

 the hook out of the salmon or to break a leader. 

 Most salmon fishermen use a single-action reel of 

 large diameter and prefer it. I myself much pre- 

 fer a multiplying reel of smaller diameter; this is 

 a matter of taste. The important thing is to 

 have a light drag or click and a light barrel so 

 that the reel will have a slight inertia in starting 

 when the fish makes a sudden rush. A leader is 

 easily broken by the slightest increase in friction 

 on the reel. I always go over all my reels and 

 see that they are in really good condition before 

 I use them. 



It is very difficult to use a light leader on a 

 fourteen-foot regular salmon rod, as this rod is 

 too powerful and will break the leader often, no 

 matter how careful you are. A leader breaking 

 at five pounds with the small end about .014 di- 

 ameter is about as fine as you can safely use. As 

 you will see later, such a leader is too coarse to 

 take many fish in low water, and for this reason 

 such a rod will not enable you to be successful 

 under these conditions. The line necessary to 



[ 26 ] 



