SALMON FISHING 203 



The result of these seems to me to confirm, 

 beyond all possibility of doubt or dispute, a fear 

 which has always haunted me when salmon 

 fishing, and weighed upon my spirits during long 

 days and hours of effort without success. This 

 conclusion is that it is not in the least necessary 

 for salmon to feed in fresh water after coming 

 from the sea, and that we who fish for them are 

 dependent for our success upon their caprice, 

 whim, temper, curiosity, or any chance emotion 

 known to fish, except appetite. In angling for 

 trout we rely with some confidence upon their 

 appetite. If the fish are there we conclude that 

 they will feed at some time, and we expect to 

 succeed when they do. But that upon which we 

 rely in trout fishing is absent in the case of salmon 

 in fresh water. Salmon do not need food then at 

 all, and the stomach is so changed that they cannot 

 digest much, if anything, and presumably there- 

 fore do not hunger. The wonder is that salmon 

 should ever be caught by angling in fresh water 

 at all, and as a matter of fact there is said to 

 be one variety of Pacific salmon which never is 

 caught in this way ; but the rule with British 

 salmon is happily less absolute. 



