SECRETS OF THE SALMON 



fish. My daughter said: "That is a shame, we 

 shall all be late." I said I should be along in ten 

 minutes, and Mr. Regan laughed as he took out 

 his watch. He said I could not land a fish in ten 

 minutes. The pool was large and not swift. I 

 held the fish very lightly and made him run hard. 

 He jumped twice when I had him landed on the 

 bank, when, by Regan's watch, it was seven minutes 

 exactly. The fish was eighteen pounds and the 

 rod six and a quarter ounces. 



Except for one sulking salmon I have never had 

 a salmon on for an hour, and forty-five minutes is 

 very unusual for me. Of course if you can get 

 below the fish and make him swim up-stream, he 

 tires very quickly. Gaffing is a highly skilled game 

 and only the best guides never make a miss. When 

 a salmon is pulled toward the man in the water, 

 the fish pays no attention if the man does not move, 

 and the fish can be brought up close to him so 

 that a single stroke should do the gaffing, and the 

 fish ought almost never to be missed. The guide 

 should not try to gaff until he is absolutely cer- 

 tain of his fish. Instead of this the guides often 

 walk up to the fish in the water instead of placing 

 themselves in the proper place and letting the 

 angler bring the fish to them. As soon as the 



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