THE SALMON ANGLER'S OUTFIT 



By the RIGHT HON. SIR HERBERT MAXWELL, BART. 



HE foregoing chapter having been occupied with fact, we 

 now enter a region wherein fancy may exercise legitimate 

 sway — namely, that in which the salmon angler's equipment 

 is dealt with. For this there is neither law nor limit; the rein 

 may be given to preference, and the utmost that the present 

 writer (or any other) can do is to mention those articles which 

 have best stood the test of his experience. 



It is no longer incumbent on the fisherman to comply with the injunction 

 of Dame Juliana Berners (or of whomsoever was the actual author of the 

 delectable "Boke of St Albans"): "Yf ye woll be crafty in anglynge, ye must 

 fyrste leme to make your harnays." There are plenty of good tradesmen 

 to save you that trouble. On the whole, perhaps, the rod deserves first 

 consideration, for it is only in Lover's rollicking extravaganza, "Handy 

 Andy," that I ever read of anybody going salmon-fishing without one. 

 Moreover, I am not qualified to speak from experience of salmon fishing 

 other than with the fly (never having killed but two salmon with any other 

 lure, one of these fish having been taken when spinning for " ferox " in 

 Loch Arkaig), and in fly-fishing the rod is of supreme importance. 



In rods, as in other human affairs, fashion changeth, and there has been 

 considerable modification in the material, length and balance of salmon 

 rods within the last half century. Before considering modern developments, 

 will the reader refresh himself by perusing once again the prescription 

 for rod -making in the aforesaid "Boke of St Albans," the oldest treatise 

 on angling in the English language ? 



" Yf ye woll be crafty in anglynge, ye must fyrste lerne to make 

 your harnays — ^that is to wyte your rodde, your lynes of dyvers 

 colours. . . . And how ye shall make your rodde craftly, here I 

 shall teche you. Ye shall kytte betweene Myghelmas and Candylmas 

 a fayr staffe of a fadom and a halfe longe, and armgrete,* of hasyll, 

 wyllowe or ashe; and beyth hym in an hote ovyn, and set hym 

 evyn; thenne let hym cole and drye a moneth. Take thenne and 

 frette hym fastef with a cockeshote cordej and bynde hym to a fourme 



• As thick as your fore-arm. t Bind It tight. 



I The cord of which nets for woodcocks were made, or by which the nets were secured. 



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