Angling with the Fly. 267 



for salmon, as a rule, do not dash at the fly like 

 trout, but are, at least in rivers, naturally more 

 leisurely in their movements than smaller game, 

 and require to be accommodated thus far, if the 

 angler wish for sport. There are, indeed, instances 

 in which salmon gulp the fly the moment it alights ; 

 but those are not common, and are generally con- 

 fined to newly run fish, that show "the madness 

 of the vexed sea " from which they come. 



From what depth or distance salmon may rise 

 to a fly, is a question that does not readily admit 

 of a solution, but I am inclined to believe that 

 they can discern the lure much farther off than 

 most anglers suppose. I have caught salmon in 

 water twenty feet deep, where there were no rocky 

 sides or sunken ledges on which they might rest ; 

 and as in such water the fish always keep near 

 the bottom, I cannot doubt that they detected my 

 fly from that depth. Again, in shallow water, I 

 have seen a salmon, more than twenty feet distant 

 from my fly, make boldly for the tempting morsel 

 which had excited his cupidity. His aim was true ; 

 he met his fate ; " he gulped the hidden hook, where- 

 on he died." In all kinds of angling, a fruitless 

 cast in good water does not always indicate that the 

 angler has failed to attract the notice of the fish ; 

 rather is it a proof that, as a humorous writer puts 

 it, "the fish has seen the line of invitation which 



