MAKCH 81 



cast the river is like a huge canal, and gives no sport ; 

 here, with a breeze, one is pretty sure to see some- 

 thing. There is a lovely ripple to-day, and a good-sized 

 ' Dandy ' is sent on its mission with a confident hand. 

 There ! at the third cast a good splashing rise and a 

 tight line. Alas ! there is also that unmistakable 

 'figure-of-eight' wriggle which so surely betokens the 

 kelt. A kelt it is; another and another follows, till 

 four have been returned to the wave ; but clearly there 

 are no sea fish here to-day. 



At length, with aching back and arms, such as come 

 of wielding an eighteen-foot greenheart for eight hours, 

 the angler stands beside the last, and not the worst, 

 cast within his beat. A wide, strong stream pours 

 into a broad swirling pool of the dimensions of a little 

 lake. Just where the current runs into a rippling 

 point is one of the most ' smittle ' places for a spring 

 salmon in the whole of the Cree. But to get the fly 

 over that point requires long and difficult wading, for 

 the stream is strong and the bottom very rough. 

 Three times in succession the journey has to be made; 

 for three times, just as the large ' Beryl ' comes over 

 the right place, it is seized by a dirty kelt which has 

 to be dragged ashore. A fourth time the fly is taken 

 hurrah ! this is a fish of the right kind ; the reel runs 

 merrily as he dashes down into the broad stream. 

 None of your figure-of-eight exercise this time, but the 

 solid weight and powerful digs of a strong salmon. 

 Never let us despair in salmon-fishing; the last hour 

 of daylight how often has it proved the deadliest and 



F 



