SALMON ANGLING. 113 



line ; and above all, should he hook a fish, the way 

 he manages him, until he is laid " broad upon his 

 breathless side," a rich and beauteous prize. For 

 instance, he will not drag his fly across the stream, 

 neither putt it against the current, which is a common 

 error with beginners, and quite absurd. But in 

 salmon fishing, he will, in throwing his line, direct 

 it so as to make the fly alight on the spot desired 

 not straight across the current, but slanting a little 

 downwards, so that it may form as gentle a curve as 

 possible ; he will move it as slowly as the current 

 will permit, over the spot where he expects the fish 

 to be lying ; he will make no perceptible motion to 

 keep his fly on the surface, except on a sluggish 

 pool, but will let it sink a little, depending on feeling 

 rather than on sight : and though apparently keep- 

 ing no pull on his line, yet all the while he will be 

 able to detect the touch of even a minnow. On a 

 boil, or other appearance of a fish, he pulls up his 

 line, not twitchingly, but actively, steps a yard or 

 two back, rests a minute, to let the fish resume 

 his lair and attention, and perhaps feels inclined to 

 alter his fly to a shade darker, or a size smaller, 

 before he annoy and disgust, or alarm his fish, when 

 he will probably come up and seize it in earnest. 

 Should he not rise again, or rise and pass it thrice, 



