244 A BOOK ON ANGLING 



at times, that I often think it worth while to slip one into my 

 pocket.* 



I always like to see a salmon show himself, and the oftener 

 he jumps out of water the better I am pleased. In the first 

 place, the play of a fish that does so is sure to be the more 

 brilliant and exciting, and in the next, every leap takes so 

 much more out of him than a mere dart through his native 

 element. It is manifest when a salmon springs from the water 

 that, if you keep the point of the rod up and maintain a tight 

 line, the fish in falling on the water with a splash will manage 

 to dash the hook out of his mouth ; consequently whenever 

 a salmon leaps you must keep a slack line by lowering the 

 point of the rod to the water's surface and giving as much 

 line as you can on the spur of the moment, by extending the 

 point as much towards the fish as possible. The instant the 

 fish is in the water again, however, the point must be raised, 

 and a tight line at once recovered. 



When a fish " jiggers " or keeps up a constant "jag, jag, 

 jag," at the line, it is a very unpleasant and trying symptom, 

 and it is extremely difficult to say what to do. Some anglers 

 think it advisable to hold him hardish, and to chance the 

 hook taking a fresh hold should he be lightly hooked ; others 

 say play him lightly, as it is a sign of his being lightly hooked. 

 This I am not at all sure of. I think it is a sign that the salmon 

 is a fish of experience, and is trying to shake the hook out by 

 twisting and shaking his head about and turning it in all 

 directions ; and as this is trying the hold of the hook in every 

 possible way, it is not very surprising if such a proceeding 

 frees the fish more often than any other. I have lost many a 

 " jiggering " fish, and, on the other hand, I certainly have 

 caught many such ; but I know of no feeling so unpleasant 

 as the sharp twitch which the process of jiggering communi- 

 cates, with a thrill of apprehension to send it home, right up 

 to the very shoulder. 



I have heard of a hard running fish, when danger is ahead, 

 being stopped in his run by the sudden taking off of the 

 strain on him ; the fisherman casting off plenty of loose line, 

 and the fish finding that he is no longer pulled one way, 

 recognises no necessity for running in another, and so stops. I 

 cannot vouch for the truth of this. It is possible, of course, 



* I have never tried this plan, and merely mention it upon the authority 

 of others. Some anglers, however, declare against it, and say that it is 

 ra.rely feasible. F. F. 



