FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 

 hook. The check of the reel may be stiff enough to do so; but unless a linger 

 is kept on the line, the salmon may run out a lot of it and be out of control 

 for some moments after it is hooked. Personally I have acquired the habit 

 — be it a good one or not — of holding a bight of the line in my disengaged 

 hand, and giving a jigging motion to the fiy. I do not know that this makes 

 the lure more attractive to the fish, but I fancy it gives the fisher an addi- 

 tional thrill at the moment of hooking. 



Here, then, are three particulars wherein the fly-fisher for trout must 

 alter his practice when he aspires to salmon. 1st, the cast is made from 

 the shoulder instead of from the elbow or wrist; 2nd, he must keep a 

 finger on the reel-line till the salmon is hooked; and 3rd, he must exer- 

 cise the strictest control over himself so as not to alter the movement 

 of hand, rod or line when he sees a salmon come to the fly. 



I have laid stress upon these three points because they are those most 

 likely to escape the notice of one watching an expert salmon-fisher at 

 work. Everything else in casting may be acquired, as aforesaid, from 

 example far better than from written dissertation; and this applies with 

 even greater force to the Spey cast, whereby an adept can fling a far longer 

 line than anybody can manage overhead or underhand. Directions for 

 making the Spey cast have been given over and over again in works on 

 angling, but it is extremely unlikely that anyone ever acquired the valu- 

 able knack by studying them. There exists a still more cogent reason 

 for not attempting to give instruction in the Spey cast on this page, to 

 wit, that I have never acquired the knack myself. When the wind blows 

 downstream and (this is very material) when no critic is watching me, 

 I can get the fly fairly well over the river by a sort of Spey cast; I have 

 often landed fish hooked by this means; but I am always surprised when 

 the performance comes off satisfactorily. 



As in casting, so in fishing a stream or pool, there is no means of com- 

 municating the proper method except by example. Here again salmon - 

 fishing differs materially from trout -fishing — ^the experienced trout - 

 fisher knows pretty well where to look for trout even in a stream which 

 he has never seen before; but no matter how well versed the salmon- 

 fisher may be in his craft, in coming to an unfamiliar river he must rely 

 upon his gillie for guidance where to cast his fly. In some of the likeliest 

 looking places salmon never lie, or, lying, will not take the fly; while 

 the surest spots may be devoid of any feature to attract a stranger's 

 attention. 

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