236 THE SALMON FLY. 



fails (though, in the four-fly system, it would be considered as bad form 

 to start operations with such showy feathers as Summer Duck in any 

 pattern), I should give extra rest and try " Charlie," or some other black- 

 looking fly ; then a nondescript of this, that, or the other class, having 

 still some marked characteristics prominently distributed; e.g., extra 

 long hackles, or tufts of short ones, plenty of the most favoured colour in 

 the tail as well as in the body and wings ; and finally mount a very large 

 pattern. 



I do not see any very " learned nonsense " or " scientific humbug " 

 in all this, though possibly a few of the old school may feel slightly un- 

 comfortable at the thought that the grand traditions of their uncere- 

 monious practice, imbued with no principle whatever, should be rudely 

 interrupted by an outburst of formularities. 



But Salmon-fishing, like anything else in the universe, must be 

 governed by *laws, and can only best be followed by observing them at 

 all points. I claim no complete knowledge of them, they are not im- 

 mutable, but that is no reason why what I know of the subject should 

 be valueless. 



Judicious contrasts are as essential to Fishermen as to the well- 

 appointed stage, and years of experiment suggest that one chief principle 

 in Salmon-fishing is ever to use them. 



Perhaps at this part of our inquiry it would not come amiss were I 

 to relate a few of my earlier exploits, which resulted in finding the key to 

 many intricate problems. 



With twenty years or more of fishing experience, and with only 

 misleading custom as a guide, I had a strong desire to investigate matters 

 for myself. I therefore determined to devote attention at the riverside to 

 the workings of Nature. As I began to decipher the more obscure 

 passages in this great book, I became familiar step by step with numerous 

 phenomena, in past days thought to be unconnected with angling, yet 



* Our laws are not infallible, but what we may safely assert is, that the propriety of a 

 rigid or elastic application of them depends upon the practice of fishing on each river. Care 

 must be taken to estimate the effect of any practice. But if one finds that a district of thirty 

 miles forms the boundary of a run of Salmon, and it takes one hundred men to "put thi'in 

 down " by improper Hies or improper presentation, the Angler may decide for himself in what 

 way, and to what extent, he is to apply our laws to do them justice. 



