10 FISHERMEN'S WEATHER 



lays similar stress on the extreme latitude 

 in the matter of weather and temperature 

 accorded to the salmon-fisherman. " I 

 have," he says, "found salmon taking 

 eagerly in the most glaring sun, when 

 the hollows of the wavelets were deep 

 blue and the crests so brilliant a silver 

 that you could scarcely look at them. I 

 have taken fish equally well on sullen, 

 dark, thundery days, when the water was 

 all brown and grey. I have taken them 

 when it was so cold that the line threat- 

 ened to freeze, and, again, when so hot 

 that the metal of the rod was unpleasant 

 to touch, but scarcely ever without a 

 breeze. I believe that the movement of 

 the water, possibly its increased oxida- 

 tion, is the real thing affecting fish. I do 

 not think it is because the ripple hides 

 the hook." The last sentence in Dr. 

 Bright's interesting summary is in bold 

 conflict with the almost universally ac- 

 cepted opinion that a ripple is necessary, 

 especially in the still water of lakes, to 

 hide the glint of the gut; but this is 



