FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 

 possible to cast many of the streams effectively from^ a boat, although the 

 temptation to the easier and lazier method seems irresistible to the 

 majority of anglers on that fine river. 



Whether a salmon be hooked from the bank, from wading or by casting 

 or harling from a boat, the main purpose of the angler should be to main- 

 tain effective control over his fish from the first. Not a single yard of line 

 should be given except under compulsion. If the fish runs down or up- 

 stream, try and keep abreast of him, thereby avoiding manifold risks. 

 One reads occasionally of prodigious fights with salmon lasting for several 

 hours, but it is very seldom indeed that a practised salmon-fisher allows 

 a fish fairly hooked in the mouth to play for more than fifteen minutes, 

 provided he can follow that fish. A salmon foul hooked in the body or in 

 a fin may take far longer. There are places, of course, where the nature 

 of the river bank — trees, rocks or other obstacles — ^render it impossible 

 to follow a fish. If a salmon runs downstream and can neither be followed 

 nor coaxed to swim up again, he may set his captor at defiance for an in- 

 definite period. But given the power of keeping abreast of the fish and an 

 understanding of its position in the water, the struggle should end in one 

 way or another in a very few minutes. Considering that the utmost strain 

 that can be exerted by the fisher with the strongest tackle amounts to 

 no more than about 3 lb., it is surprising how soon the power of a fish 

 is exhausted, if it is intelligently handled.* 



That salmon are not always intelligently handled may be judged from 

 the absurd descriptions one reads of fish sulking or deliberately rubbing 

 the line against a sharp rock so as to sever it. A fish is pronounced to be 

 sulking when it remains without movement in deep water. Imagination 

 pictures it prone at the bottom, ensconced behind some mighty rock; 

 but the true position of that fish is vertical — head down, tail up — and all 

 that the angler need do to set him moving is to lower the rod sideways 

 and pull the fish off its balance. This cannot be done, as aforesaid, if the 

 angler is a long way above the fish and is unable to get abreast of him. 



And so it is in every passage in the conflict. Let the angler realize the 

 true position of the fish and make him fight the whole time. If he runs 

 determinately, so much the better, he will be the sooner exhausted, es- 

 pecially if the full strength of the tackle is opposed to him; if he turns 



*People often express incredulity about the limit of strain which an angler can put upon a fish with the rod 

 upright or at a safe angle. A strong gut cast may lift a weight of 10 lb. or 12 lb., but human arms will not prevail 

 to raise a 4 lb. weight from the ground when attached to a line at the end of an 18-foot rod. Try it I 



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