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SECRETS OF THE SALMON 



The problem became largely one of fishing so 

 that they would not see the leader. This can be 

 done in two ways: first, by having it as thin as 

 possible. This is not very practical because it is 

 difficult to hook and land a fish of considerable 

 size on a gut which will break under a strain of a 

 pound and a half or less. The second way is to 

 see if the leader could not be cast so that they 

 would not see it so readily. I soon found this to 

 be possible to a certain extent. If the leader ex- 

 tends up-stream from the salmon for a couple of 

 feet or more it is in a straight line away from him 

 when he comes to take the fly, and he is not so 

 likely to see it in time to avoid the fly. This is the 

 key to dry-fly fishing for salmon. (Figure 35.) 

 Have the fly float directly over the fish so that he 

 will see it with both eyes and have the leader lead 

 directly away from him. If the fly was pulled 

 on the surface, I found that he was far less likely 

 to rise, and a fly partly submerged almost never 

 takes a fish. It must float on the surface of the 

 water well up on the top of its hackles. You will 

 notice in the chapter on "What the Fish Sees/' 

 pictures of dry flies in this position. The light 

 effects are what attract the fish, because this 

 is what occurs when natural insects float on the 



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