78 SALMON AND TROUT. 



come to grief, and the former both invites ' stickings-fast,' 

 owing to the admission of the rod drippings, and is also con- 

 stantly slipping and coming apart, as before observed, at in- 

 opportune moments. Personally I shall never again have a 

 rod made with either of them. 



If, by the way, the rod joint should become stuck in the 

 manner alluded to, the best and, indeed, the only means that 

 I know of for separating it, is to turn it slowly in the flame of 

 a candle at the ' sticking point,' when the swelling of the ferrule 

 produced by the heat will generally enable a separation to be 

 effected without damage to anything beyond the rod varnish. 

 A little grease rubbed on to the ends of the joints before starting 

 will, especially if the joint be not ' double brazed ' i.e. covered 

 with brass as to the lowest part of the plug often anticipate 

 ' lesions ' of this kind, and prevention is better than cure. 



Quitting now the subject of rods, reels, and lines that 

 is, the apparatus destined for hooking and playing a fish the 

 next and by no means unimportant question, is the means of 

 landing him. 



For all fish of the trout and salmon species up to two or 

 three pounds in weight a net will be found the most convenient 

 and serviceable implement for this purpose the province of 

 the gaff coming in only in the case of larger and heavier fish. 

 I will not here enter into the vexed questions of net or gaff on 

 salmon rivers, although there is no doubt that nets can be 

 made large enough and strong enough to ' bag ' the largest 

 salmon that ever took a fly, and to do all the work of the gaff, 

 and do it effectually, whilst at the same time probably saving 

 the lives of many gravid or unclean fish which ought to be 

 returned to the water. Saving also, when the fisherman is a 

 conscientious observer of the salmon laws, a considerable 

 amount of time and temper. 



Putting this question aside, however, the use of the landing 

 net, as I have observed, is practically confined to fish under 

 about three pounds weight, the gaff, on the score of portability, 



