PLAYING A FISH. 257 



he, after performing some or all of the above acrobatic 

 feats, prefer to run off direct up or down stream, I would 

 enjoin the sportsman, in place of standing still and 

 letting out line, to make use of his legs as well as his 

 arms, and either walk or run along shore, directly 

 opposite his head, with as short a line out as possible ; 

 as the shorter the latter is, the more command will he 

 have over the fish, and the better will he be able to 

 keep him in hand. Should the fish be allowed to get 

 any considerable distance in advance of the sportsman 

 while running up stream with a long line out, the latter 

 will inevitably get drowned, as it is termed in angling 

 phraseology ; that is, the current acts so powerfully 

 upon the line, as to sweep it down in a large curve far 

 behind the fish, which may be really fifty yards in 

 advance of the position he appears to be in ; when 

 the action of the rod upon the latter .will be com- 

 pletely neutralized by the action of the current against 

 it, and the fish, thus comparatively relieved from the 

 pressure of the rod, will be pretty much at liberty to do 

 as he chooses. Besides the above evil, it very often 

 happens that a drowned line becomes irretrievably en- 

 tangled round some projecting stone or snag, if there is one 

 in the neighbourhood, 'when whiff goes the gut, and away 

 goes the fish. And for the above reasons, a fish should 

 always be played with as little line out as circumstances 

 will permit ; while every endeavour ought to be made 

 to induce him to turn from a course up stream, or from 

 the vicinity of roots, rocks, or other dangerous objects, by 

 holding the rod almost horizontally backwards, and pre- 

 M 2 



