WINTER TALKS ON SUMMER PASTIMES. 51 



doing, with a slight variation, what I had always done when 

 casting for trout, I did just the right thing, in the right 

 way, at the right moment. And when the rise came and I 

 struck my fish, I did precisely what I would have done 

 with a large trout or bass in similar waters. I held him 

 taut when I could, gave him line when the pressure de- 

 manded it, reeled in when I could do so with safety, 

 humored him when he sulked, brought him to within reach 

 of the gaff as soon as possible, and landed him with a shout, 

 probably the happiest man in all the Provinces. I have 

 killed hundreds of salmon since, but I do not think I have 

 ever cast better, manipulated my fish more discreetly, or re- 

 ceived more deserved compliments from my critical gaffers, 

 or heartier congratulations from my angling companions. 

 No, a reasonably skillful trout fisher need have no fears 

 about striking out boldly for salmon. It is only necessary 

 for him to make careful use of what he already knows, and 

 to take care that he does not 'lose his head* under the ex- 

 citement of such sport as, in his wildest imaginings, he had 

 never dreamed of." 



"But," said a novice friend who is ambitious to graduate 

 from a hand trawl to a fly rod, "what hope can I have to 

 successfully tackle a salmon? Surely there are some rules a 

 knowledge of which would assist such unfortunates as my- 

 self?" 



"The only rule I can lay down for you and those like you 

 who have the good sense to aspire to the dignity of salmon 

 anglers is this: Begin as soon as you can and learn from ex- 

 perience. There is no other competent teacher. If you had 

 an ambition to copy a Raphael, you might read every treatise 

 that has ever been written on tone and tint, light and shade, 

 the different varieties of color and the most effective mode 

 of applying them, without being any the better qualified to 

 make the copy than if you had never seen a Raphael. So it 

 is with angling for salmon. No amount of reading or of 

 mere verbal instruction, however clearly or graphically im- 

 parted, can give to you the rhythmic movement, the delicate 

 twist, the careful manipulation, and the nice discrimination 



