DRY-FLY FISHING 



It is very hard for the novice to tell when the 

 salmon is alarmed. He does not usually run away 

 as does the trout, unless he is very frightened in- 

 deed. If you watch carefully, the only thing you 

 can observe is that he settles a little toward the 

 bottom and often changes the motion of his fins 

 and tail. When this happens a salmon will not 

 rise and there is no use casting over him just then. 

 On the other hand, if he begins to work his front 

 fins faster and raises his head or whole body in 

 the water as the fly passes over him, he is taking 

 notice and will most surely rise to the fly if it is 

 put over him enough times in the proper way. 

 When I have seen him take notice I have sometimes 

 kept at him an hour or so and almost invariably 

 raised him to the fly. This is quite the opposite 

 from the effect of a wet fly, which offers its greatest 

 attraction when first seen, and the probability 

 that he will take it decreases with the number of 

 times the salmon sees it. It is for this reason that 

 the old fishermen rest a fish which has risen short 

 and are certain that they have more chance of 

 taking him if he gets a fresh view of the fly after 

 an interval. I feel that the warm water has, in 

 some mysterious way, brought to the surface of 

 consciousness the habits formed during the parr 



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