Outfit The Gaff. 77 



and as much interested in the result of the contest as the 

 angler himself. Moreover, it is as tight as a bottle; or if 

 not, can be made so with a pitch-plaster with certainty 

 and dispatch. 



As a small boy can always find room for just one more 

 piece of pie, so a salmon can always summon energy for 

 another run. It is really wonderful what reserved powers 

 an apparently spent fish will sometimes evince, when 

 stimulated by the approach of the gaff, or by a maladroit 

 application of its point to his ribs. When the gaffer lays 

 aside his paddle for the gaff, half the adaptability of the 

 canoe is gone, since it is controlled by his assistant alone. 

 Should he then miss his stroke from any cause and the 

 fish start for the next county by diving under the canoe, 

 as it is prone to do, it is apt to be a case of good-by. 



For these reasons it is advisable to gaff from the bank 

 when possible. As any ordinarily well-conducted river 

 has usually an abundance of that article on either side, it 

 might seem that this was everywhere possible. By no 

 means. Not every bank will serve the purpose. It must 

 be one sufficiently unobstructed to permit the angler to 

 follow the fish down stream in case of necessity and it 

 usually is necessary. The water near the shore must not 

 be too deep, nor must the current be rapid, nor, again, 

 must it be too shallow to float the fish. But, above all 

 things, it must be reasonably free from that bete noire 

 of the angler snags and similar obstructions which can 

 foul the line or leader. Such landing-places as will serve, 

 therefore, become perforce well known on every river. 

 They may be a quarter, a half, or even a mile or more apart. 

 They may be on one side of the river or on the other, or 

 alternate in any conceivable order. 



