SECRETS OF THE SALMON 



in my left wrist if I hook a large fish and have 

 to play him a long time. I can rest the butt of 

 the rod against my body and get at the reel with 

 my right hand without danger of getting the 

 handle tangled in my clothes. Such a rod will 

 not pull over one pound when the tip is up and the 

 greatest strain possible put on the butt. This 

 will not stop or turn a good-sized salmon but will 

 tire him out quickly. Of course the pleasure of 

 playing a salmon on good heavy tackle, and giv- 

 ing him the butt and making him jump, is sacri- 

 ficed to the pleasure of seeing him rise to the sur- 

 face and hooking him, often at close range. But 

 with this tackle I raise and hook many more fish. 

 Such a rod works best with a tapered E line about 

 .035-inch diameter in the heavy part. If it is well 

 handled it will put a fly ninety feet and lay it 

 down lightly. I have hooked fish at this distance 

 quite often, and regularly fish at seventy feet with 

 ease. The leader must be very long for dry-fly 

 work, as I find the line floating over the fish or 

 striking the water scares them badly. I use regu- 

 larly a fourteen-foot leader with the large end about 

 .020-inch diameter. Often I have found that this 

 is not long enough and added three to six feet more 

 finer gut. 



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