78 The American Salmon-fisherman. 



When the fish has been brought to the proper stage of 

 docility, the next problem is to work it down to one of 

 these landing-places. It cannot be worked up stream by 

 any possibility, unless it contributes thereto by its own 

 folly. A landing-place once passed, though but by 

 twenty-five feet, is passed for good, as far as that fish is 

 concerned. Having at length happily arrived at a suit- 

 able place, the canoe is brought to the bank, and all dis- 

 embark. Then the angler tries to coax the fish within 

 reach. He governs the amount of the strain with the 

 most careful discrimination, yielding to the slightest ex- 

 cess, and taking line upon its slightest diminution. It is 

 a long, and oftentimes a laborious process, every phase of 

 which the angler must watch with unflagging attention, 

 and with all his wits about him, if ultimate success is to 

 crown his efforts. As the fish swings in to the bank, the 

 gaffer places himself opposite, and a little below when; 

 he expects it will arrive, motionless as though cast in 

 bronze. The assistant skips round to find a suitable 

 stone. At last the fish is near enough. The gaffer 

 quietly reaches over its back till the point of the gaff is 

 opposite its more distant side in the vicinity of the back 

 fin, and then suddenly retracts the gaff, driving it 

 through the fish below the backbone, and without ar- 

 resting the motion, drags it on to the shore. The assist- 

 ant then plies the stone, and the tragedy is over. 



The foregoing is merely intended to give an idea of 

 the process, not to furnish specific directions for its ac- 

 complishment. Until long after the angler is beyond the 

 aid of printed instructions, he would do well to leave this 

 delicate operation to his skilled attendant. 



