SALMON FISHING 205 



enough to be at a good place at the right 

 moment. The best chance of having a really 

 good day's sport is when the river has cleared 

 after a flood and is falling. The salmon have 

 then stopped running, but are not yet thoroughly 

 settled in their new places. They are still active 

 and alert and more ready to pay attention to 

 salmon flies. I think it is probable, that the 

 more recently a salmon has entered a pool the 

 more likely he is to take a fly. It is not hard 

 to imagine that he is in good spirits at find- 

 ing himself in an easy comfortable resting-place 

 after struggling through rough water and over 

 shallows. In spring, when the rivers are full 

 and salmon can keep on moving up day after 

 day without being dependent on a flood, I have 

 noticed that a fish, which is seen to make a 

 boil at the tail of a pool, frequently comes at the 

 fly, if it is cast over the place directly or soon 

 afterwards. A ghillie of much experience, a 

 very good fisherman, first called my attention 

 to this, and said that he thought these were 

 fish which had just entered the pool, and I think 

 he was right. 



Salmon fishing is a sport in which the angler 



