240 A BOOK ON ANGLING 



Meanwhile, when your fly is sweeping round, lower the point 

 of the rod gradually, giving line to the fly to cover as much 

 ground as possible ; and when it enters on the straight run 

 home, or when the fly is in the stream, and the line tight and 

 straight, raise and fall the point of the rod slightly as you 

 work the fly up-stream, raising and drawing at the same time, 

 until you have the fly far enough up-stream. Never work it 

 too far so as to lose full and strong command over it ; if you 

 do, it may hap that a salmon will rise when you have very 

 little power or room left to strike him. 



ON STRIKING 



Well, " when you see the boil and feel the pluck," what 

 then ? Why, when you do so, you are all right, and may 

 raise your rod smartly, with a fair tug, over your shoulder. 

 If you see the boil only, and don't feel him, don't be too hasty ; 

 he may be only making an offer coming up to inspect 

 and if (as most young and nervous salmon-fishers out of 

 practice do) you strike and pull the fly away from him, he 

 goes down disgusted with the rudeness of the gentleman who 

 has asked him to dinner and then snatched his dinner out of 

 his mouth ; and you might almost as well have assaulted him 

 with a fork, or, in other words, have pricked him. Ten times 

 more fish are lost from striking too quickly than by striking 

 too slowly. It is hard to wait when you see a fish coming : 

 still, you must wait, or lose your fish. Some people say 

 that when you see the boil of a salmon, if he means to have it, 

 he has already got it. But this is a fanciful theory. He 

 comes up to see what it is that has attracted his attention. 

 If he is not very eager, he first looks and then decides, and you 

 see the boil whether or no. Sometimes the decision is adverse, 

 and he does not take ; sometimes, pleased with the nearer 

 inspection, he does. Either way, eight times out of ten there 

 is either the least pause in the world or a very long one, and 

 nothing is gained by pulling away the fly. Sometimes, when 

 very sharp set indeed, he makes no bones of it, but comes 

 straight at it like a lion. That is when you see the boil, and feel 

 the pluck at the same instant. There is not much consideration 

 required with such fish ; you can hardly miss them. 



But some salmon-fishers say you " should not strike." 

 Yes, I know that ; but what they mean by striking is, you 

 shouldn't hit a salmon as if the roof of his mouth were a 



