GENERAL HINTS. 155 



Always play your fish with as little line as possible. 

 Butt him as soon as he exhibits signs of weariness. 



When the fish leaps in the air, lower the top of your 

 rod, so that the line may fall slack. 



Endeavour to direct the fish into clear and open water 

 away from narrow channels, choked bottoms, or overhang- 

 ing banks. 



Do not, if possible, attempt to haul in the line with 

 your hands. Run backwards if you have the opportunity. 

 Always use your legs rather than your hands. If in a 

 boat, and the salmon rushes towards you, it may be impe- 

 ratively necessary, with a common reel to your rod, to haul 

 in the line through the rings to let it fall at your feet, and 

 in this predicament a multiplying reel is valuable, and, in- 

 deed, this is its only value. 



Fish the water well, and do not think the time mis- 

 spent, if there be salmon in the river ; for in no sport is 

 perseverance better rewarded than in salmon-fishing. 



It requires great experience to know the haunts of the 

 salmon. On most rivers guides are accessible who know 

 the run of the water, and the most likely places for the 

 fish. Without such help the angler will have to exercise 

 his judgment, which will be assisted by the study of the 

 following hints : 



Salmon, as a rule, lie on a stony, and avoid smooth, 

 muddy, and even gravelly bottoms. They are seldom to 

 be found in a long, straggling reach of shallow water, 

 which does not lead directly to some pool, or still, deep 

 water. A swift stream, on the contrary, running into some 

 still watery depths, is much frequented by the best fish. 

 Salmon are seldom found in the middle of the current , 

 they avoid it, and lie at the sides, close to pieces of rock. 



