14 Salmon Fishing. 



of pounds depended, been decided against the 

 favourite, merely from his being a trifle over- 

 weighted ! If a horse be precluded by a pound 

 or two of additional weight from reaching the goal 

 first, shall not the salmon-fisher suffer in a long 

 day's work, in proportion to the weight he is 

 encumbered with ? One of the first foes that 

 startled me from handling a salmon-rod at all, 

 was the ponderous machine I frequently saw in 

 the hands of fishermen on the banks of the 

 Wye ! From nineteen to twenty feet long, and 

 proportionally heavy, what, with the enormous 

 reel, and rope-like horsehair line, no wonder I 

 was scared at the spectacle ! 



Day after day, from nine in the morning, till 

 a late hour in the evening, I can go on quietly 

 wielding the rod I use now, without a pain in 

 the back following, or a stiffness in the wrist. 

 It was made, with another exactly like it, 

 according to my own directions, by O'Handlen, 

 of Bristol, and suits me exactly. No doubt, one 

 with more breadth of shoulders, and a few inches 



