156 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING. 



of it in a way that I never saw before, making it in 

 shape, with a slight exaggeration, nearly two-thirds of 

 a circle. " Gie him line, gie him line," roared out Kerse 

 and Charlie Purdie, — " od but he'll break ye, man." 

 Now I knew that if he went down the Clippers amongst 

 the rocks, I should be cut in a moment to a dead 

 certainty ; for, as I noted before, I could not follow. 

 So I was determined not to yield at all events, and I 

 held him firm at the surface of the water. In this 

 position he had not half his natural power, and in less 

 than a minute Charlie cleiked him, and brought him 

 out before he could dig down. Thus he was taken by 

 surprise. He proved to be a clean salmon of ten pounds, 

 and the first that had been caught that season. Now 

 this could not have been done, had not the line been 

 short and the fish almost immediately under me. I 

 remember Kerse (who had before been pressing the 

 necessity of using double or triple gut in such danger- 

 ous water) saying, "Ay, that was canny enough; but 

 if you had not been advised by me, it could not have 

 been done at ony gait." I showed him my casting- 

 line, however, which, excepting the first length next 

 the line, was of strong single gut. But he was certainly 

 right in his assertion as to the necessity of very strong 

 tackle in such a singular cast, especially as the river 

 was very full, and the torrent so impetuous that nice 

 tackle was by no means requisite. 



In a low clear water you must be somewhat dilatory 

 in striking : you often see the heave of the water and 

 a break before the fish has actually seized your fly. 

 Give him time to turn his head in his way back to his 



