ANGLING REMINISCENCES. 19 



gant. We have seen salmon flies of his which were 

 literally covered with glitter; others, likewise, he 

 fabricated in the Irish style, with a redundancy of 

 the golden pheasant feather under the outer wing, 

 and, to say the truth, they proved in his hands 

 remarkably successful. He once recommended 

 to us a small hook, with a light, blue silk body, 

 which he affirmed would prove very deadly on the 

 salmon species in large, clear waters, during the 

 summer months. We never used it, not because 

 we doubted its efficacy, but our experimenting 

 moods are entirely worn off, or, like all anglers, we 

 look upon innovations with a sort of horror. 



Leister, when angling, was accustomed to vary 

 his flies every half-hour, and in the case of a salmon 

 refusing the hook, he would run over his whole 

 stock in endeavouring a second time to bring it to 

 the surface. This is not an uncommon practice 

 with some, who, upon raising a fish, have recourse 

 with as much speed as possible to a new and totally 

 different fly. Others, again, recur to the one in 

 use, but refrain from recasting the line until suffi- 

 cient rest has been allowed to the fish. 



Among the members of our modern fraternity, 

 Leister found a powerful rival in the person of Tom 

 Otter. Tom, however, did not equal him as a fly- 

 fisher, but in the management of the minnow was 

 greatly his superior. He had a way of attaching 

 his bait, which gave it a particularly captivating 

 appearance. Under his management, it span with 



