PRELIMINARY 



Now this cast has to be fished from a boat and is an exceedingly ticklish 

 spot wherein to hook a salmon. If the fish can be persuaded to move up 

 into the Foss pool, all may be well, for there is plenty of room there to tire 

 him out : the angler may play him at pleasure and go ashore to land him. 

 But the draw at the tail of the pool is so powerful that if a salmon turns 

 his broadside'to it he must go down into the rapid. Then the fight begins in 

 earnest, with odds against the fisherman, for the boat has to be rowed 

 smartly away from the salmon so as to set the angler ashore before he can 

 follow his fish. By the time he reaches terra firma he is separated from 

 the said fish by a side stream, beyond which a long spit of huge boulders 

 projects into the main river. All this time the salmon has been descending 

 the rough water and Piscator may think himself lucky if no more than 

 one hundred yards of line have been taken from the reel. He has now to 

 scramble at top speed to get on terms with his fish. In a high water the 

 line may have been carried clear of an enormous rock that lies in mid- 

 channel, after which it is fairly plain sailing for a couple of hundred yards 

 down to Langhol, a fine open stream, where, if the fish is still on, it may be 

 landed at leisure ; but in a low water it is three chances to one that the 

 rock has fouled the line and the salmon has broken away. 



Now to return to my position on the Foss pool. In considerable trepida- 

 tion I sent a small double -hooked Silver Grey over the lie of those two big 

 fish. In a moment I felt a heavy pull, and was fast. At first the fish, to my 

 great relief, moved slowly upwards, keeping very deep. It circled twice 

 or thrice round the entire circumference of the pool, then turned with an 

 evident intention of seeking the company of its fellow at the tail. No strain 

 that I dared to put upon the single gut prevailed to stop him ; down, down — 

 deep down — ^he forced his way, until he paused in the very point of danger, 

 fiercely shaking his head. Then down again, and I knew that he must 

 leave the pool. We rowed quickly ashore; I scurried breathlessly over the 

 rocks, the reel spinning wildly all the time. When I regained the river- 

 side it seemed that all had gone well, for the line was stretching away 

 among the tumbling waters in the direction of Langhol. I wound in as fast 

 as possible ; presently the line began to point up stream and my hopes to 

 sink. A moment of suspense — ^then the fatal truth became plain ; the line 

 had hanked upon the sunken rock, and the salmon had departed with the 

 little Silver Grey. From first to last I never caught a glimpse of him, but 

 there could be no doubt that he was one of the two big fish I had seen 

 rising. 



5 



