224 ELEMENTS OF ANGLING. 



lift him out. Some men carry a thread glove in 

 their pocket, which they put on before grasping the 

 fish ; others simply wet a handkerchief and obviate 

 the slipperiness of the fish with that ; personally, I 

 generally grab a handful of sand or fine grit before 

 seizing the fish, and sometimes I have dispensed 

 even with that. A third method is to drag one's 

 fish into very shallow water, get between him and 

 the river, and " kick" him out, but this has obvious 

 objections. For small waters wading, if necessary 

 at all, could be done in stockings. Big rivers 

 generally need wading trousers, and to get the 

 greatest benefit out of these one has to have a very 

 short coat. A cardigan vest is not a bad thing to 

 wear instead of a coat ; it is very warm, and can be 

 tucked inside the waders. 



When the novice comes to the fishing his first 

 step should be to get someone who knows the 

 river, a gillie or local angler, to take him all over 

 the water at his disposal and point out, not only the 

 pools where salmon lie, but also the exact spots 

 where they " take." A man who knows a pool 

 well will look at it and point out some three or 

 four places where he has risen or hooked salmon, 

 and will probably say that he has scarcely seen a 

 fish in any other part of it. This means that there 

 are three or four places where salmon always lie, 



