SALMON AND SEA-TROUT. 225 



probably because there are big flat rocks at the 

 bottom which give them a sheltered resting-place. 

 They are not necessarily the best looking places, 

 and it is practically impossible for a stranger on a 

 river to find them all for himself. There is one 

 rough pool out of which I have caught salmon 

 which I should not have known for a pool at all if 

 I had not been told. It looks just like a long, 

 shallow rapid, and I should certainly have passed 

 it by as mere trout water but for local advice. 



Nine times out of ten the novice may expect to 

 catch his fish in the exact spots where the gillie 

 says they take. The tenth time he may get a 

 salmon or two in unusual places. If a river is 

 unusually full of fish, it is worth while casting in 

 any spot which looks deep enough for them ; also, 

 if it is high and the salmon are " running," it is 

 sometimes possible to get an odd one by stationing 

 oneself at the top of some pool with a narrow neck 

 and casting into the run above it. It is a tedious 

 game, but I have had an occasional salmon in this 

 way. The novice will be told that such and such a 

 pool is a " high water " pool, such and such a " low 

 water " one, which means that the first yields sport 

 when the river is high, the second when it is low, 

 and it will be worth his while to bear it all care- 

 fully in mind. He should endeavour to mark the 



Q 



