54 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. 



use too whippy a rod." Always strike from the winch 

 i. e.y without placing the hand round the line, and for 

 this purpose the check should be set "stiffish." 



After hooking a fish keep the point of the rod well up, 

 your line free to run off the winch, and yourself cool. 

 That is all the direction you need ; the fish will teach 

 you the rest. Several of your largest fish, of course, will 

 inevitably be lost through unskilful "playing," but if I 

 were to write a hundred pages of directions I could not 

 really help the tyro. Letting the rod do its work is the 

 prime secret, and, of course, keeping the tip well up 

 allows of this. Did you ever try pulling against a strong 

 elastic band I have, in training for rowing to see 

 how long you could keep making efforts, and how 

 much your efforts amounted to in pounds, each time ? 

 If not, take my word for it that the continued 

 tension is the greatest of inventions for taking the 

 strength out of one's muscles, and it is the same with a 

 fish. A good cane or greenheart rod will kill much 

 stronger fish, on a tight line even, than is usually be- 

 lieved. Check every rush of the fish, and don't be too 

 impatient to get him into the boat. Half the pleasures 

 of life lie in pursuit; conquest is "flat, stale and un- 

 profitable" as compared with it. Hence, I believe in 

 getting all the sporting power there is in a fish out of 

 him. I have played fish purposely till they needed no 

 landing net. Of course, however, the man who has the 

 pot to fill cannot stop to "fool around " like this. 



I do not propose to give directions in reference to 

 salmon fishing at this time. There is an army of author- 

 ities who are better qualified to do this than I. It is 



