66 



THE FLY FISHER'S GUIDE. 



becomes sulky, and sinks without motion to the 

 bottom, this is the only method to be employed 

 to rouse it into action ; for a fish should never be 

 permitted to remain quiet after being hooked. As 

 it becomes exhausted, it may be easily drawn by 

 degrees on to a gravel bank, or within reach of 

 the gaff, when the anxiously earned prize is made 

 secure. If, when taken out of the water, the 

 colour of the back be blue, or inclining to black, 

 the fish is in high season ; if reddish, approach- 

 ing to brown, it is kipper, and good for nothing. 



The male fish is frequently found with a horny 

 proboscis, projecting from the under jaw, with 

 which he roots in the gravel, in order to form 

 a bed for the spawn of the female. This being 

 deposited, they both proceed to cover it with the 

 loose gravel, to secure it from the voracity of the 

 trout and other fish, which are particularly fond 

 of this food, and follow the salmon in shoals, in 

 the expectation of partaking of it. 



The young salmon fry, or samlets, are gene- 

 rally first animated in February, when they direct 



