A BOOK OF FISHING STORIES 



grandest of streams, I know no much finer or more beautiful 

 river than the Irish Erne. If you would know more of it, 

 then away to the north-west coast of Ireland, where the At- 

 lantic breezes blow straight and fresh from the ocean. There 

 it is that the river Erne, flowing along the boundary-line 

 between Donegal and Fermanagh, drains Lough Erne into 

 Ballyshannon Bay. Lough Erne is one of the largest lakes 

 in Ireland, second only in size to Lough Neagh. From the 

 head of the upper lake, south-east of Enniskillen, down to 

 Belleek, where the salmon-river proper begins, is a distance 

 of something like fifty miles. The main lake, extending north- 

 west from Enniskillen for about thirty miles to within three 

 miles of Belleek, is a lovely piece of water, studded here and 

 there with islands, bounded on the south with high green 

 hills, and famous for its trout and pike. 



It is fitting, then, that the outlet of this great lake should 

 be a correspondingly fine salmon-river ; only three Irish miles 

 of fishing water, it is true, but a river of noble proportions, 

 with splendid pools and ideal salmon streams. 



Whatever the immediate result may be, no salmon-angler 

 can fish Erne water without pleasure, for it is a summer river 

 yielding its best sport in the long days. It runs through 

 typical Irish banks and leafy woods, crystal-clear, with swir- 

 ling streams, rocky lies, and deep pools, all of which salmon 

 love. In some places the angler may wade as deep as he 

 dare and throw as far as he can, yet without crossing lines 

 with his rival on the opposite shore. Hook a 20-lb. salmon in 

 Knather Lane, the Tail of the Island, or in the Fall Hole, and 



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