Salmon Fishing. 31 



excellent fly-tier, it is surprising it never struck 

 him, that the favourites of his art, even the 

 choicest and best, were as little like the natural 

 winged beauties that frequent the streams, as 

 a Bull is like a Peacock-butterfly. And yet 

 how extraordinary, that he should entertain the 

 wild notion, that the salmon, like the trout, 

 indulges his appetite with food so little sub- 

 stantial as the insects in question ! We have 

 heard of old fish being hooked, and that not 

 seldom, with the March-brown, and sometimes 

 with a smaller trout-fly ; but no one, I imagine, 

 would think a fisherman far removed from an 

 absolute lunatic, who deliberately put on one, 

 or the other, in the hope of tempting a salmon 

 to rise at it. 



What salmon do take the flies we ordinarily 

 use for, is a question often asked, but never 

 answered. My own impression is, that if hunger 

 be not the prominent motive that induces a 

 salmon to rush at a lively-looking object, no 

 matter how little it resemble his natural food, 



