I 1 4 SALMON FISHING. 



THE REEL AND LINE. 



A reel similar in pattern to that recommended 

 for Trout, but capable of holding from 80 to 100 

 yards of casting-line will be found best. For an 

 1 8 or 1 9 foot rod, such as that described, a reel of 

 four inches in the diameter of the plate gives on 

 the whole the best balance. 



The ordinary eight-plait dressed silk line, or the 

 spun-cotton line, already elsewhere described, will 

 be found the best, the latter being about one-third 

 of the price of the former. 



THE GAFF. 



A straight, sharp point is the only real essential 

 in a gaff. All other matters are comparatively 

 unimportant. As the gaff has always to be carried 

 by an attendant, one with a 6 or 7 foot solid 

 handle is most convenient. In gaffing a Salmon 

 there is an art which needs some little practice and 

 presence of mind to acquire. Unskilful gaffers 

 make a sort of dive or snatch at a fish. The 

 proper plan, on the contrary, is cautiously but 

 quickly to lower the gaff until the point nearly, but 

 not quite, touches the fish's opposite side below 

 the shoulder, and then give it a sharp, sudden jerk 



