A SPRING SALMON 145 



myself for a few casts the rocks being of such a 

 nature that I could not go lower down the river 

 either in a boat or by wading. This cast is called 

 the Clippers, and is in Makerstoun-water. 



Here, with a line not given out above my rod's 

 length, I hooked a clean salmon that rose close 

 under me. I struck him as he was at the surface 

 of the water : as soon as he felt the hook, he en- 

 deavoured to dig downwards. I gave him the butt 

 of my rod, and he bent the whole of it in a way 

 that I never saw before, making it in shape, with a 

 slight exaggeration, nearly two-thirds of a circle. 

 " Gie him line, gie him line ! " roared out Kerse and 

 Charlie Purdie, "od but he'll break ye, mon." 

 Now I knew that if he went down the Clippers 

 amongst the rocks, I should be cut in a moment 

 to a dead certainty ; for, as I noted before, I could 

 not follow. So I was determined not to yield at 

 all events, and I held him firm at the surface of the 

 water. In this position he had not half his natural 

 power, and in less than a minute Charlie cleiked 

 him, and brought him out before he could dig 

 down. Thus he was taken by surprise. He proved 

 to be a clean salmon of ten pounds, and the first 

 that had been caught that season. Now this could 

 not have been done, had not the line been short 

 and the fish almost immediately under me. I re- 

 member Kerse (who had before been pressing the 

 necessity of using double or triple gut in such danger- 

 ous water) saying, " Ay, that was canny enough ; 

 but if you had not been advised by me, it could not 

 have been done at ony gait." I showed him my 

 casting line, however, which, excepting the first 



