136 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING. 



to see what a long line he himself could throw with it. 

 It must be noted, however, that he fished from a boat 

 in the upper and narrower part of the Tweed, where 

 the channel is excellent, and where there are few bad 

 rocks ; in a large river, abounding in all those natural 

 obstructions which its waters fight with, no human 

 ingenuity could have saved him from being often cut 

 with such Lilliputian tackle. 



Your line should be about a hundred or a hundred 

 and twenty or thirty yards, according to the breadth 

 of the river you fish in, tapering, of course, towards the 

 end. Your gut single, clear, and round. Of such you 

 may make a casting line sufficiently strong for any 

 salmon you will ever encounter in these degenerate days. 



The colour of your casting line should depend upon 

 the state of the river. Take some thought, therefore, to 

 adapt it accordingly : in doing so, you may fancy that 

 you and the fish have changed places. Whilst you are 

 on dry land your object of comparison is the dark bed 

 of the river, which misleads you of course ; whereas the 

 objects of comparison to the fish, who lies below, are 

 the colour of the sky and the medium of water. If the 

 water thenbe moss-stained, your gut maybe very faintly 

 tinged of the same colour, — very faintly indeed, as all 

 dyes are overdone ; but if the river be clear, do not on 

 any account stain your casting line at all. The sky 

 may vary in colour every minute : an attempt to match 

 it, therefore, is out of the question. You may easily 

 satisfy yourself of the superiority of white over dyed 

 gut, in ordinary cases, by remarking the appearance 

 of both when placed in a tumbler of pure water. 



