SECRETS OF THE SALMON 



from me. This kind of leap is very likely to lose 

 the salmon, as he almost invariably hits the leader 

 with his tail when he jumps. There is a conviction 

 among guides that the salmon always hits the leader 

 and that he causes splits in his tail by so doing. 

 The number of splits in his tail corresponds to the 

 number of jumps. I have generally found this to 

 be the case, but it may be only a coincidence. The 

 salmon runs up to the head of the pool and then 

 down to the deep water where he begins to "chug," 

 as it is called; this is jerking the head against the 

 pull of the line to loosen the hook. Salmon gen- 

 erally do this when they are lightly hooked and 

 often get off. I always dislike to feel it. The 

 only thing to do is to hold them very lightly so 

 they will not have much strain to work against. 

 They generally soon stop and begin to run again 

 if they don't tear out. The fish jumps a second 

 time and makes for the end of the pool with the 

 evident intention of going down-stream. I ease 

 the strain on him as much as possible and run 

 along the bank and get below him; this turns him 

 up-stream, as they generally fight away from the 

 strain on the line. Bearing right to the edge of 

 the swift water he turns and goes up into the pool 

 and makes runs, getting shorter and shorter as 



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