136 The American Salmon -fisherman. 



which has been prematurely scooped from the water by 

 a lucky chance and the skill of the gaffer, still it is some- 

 what questionable whether we who follow this method 

 are justly entitled to plume ourselves as being so much 

 more sportsmanlike than those who do not. We take 

 more chances, it is true, and we lose more fish; but we 

 do the first only when we think we see a clear way out of 

 the difficulty, and the latter is quite involuntary. Really 

 the most a?sthetic in practice, if not in theory, takes pre- 

 cious good care to keep the probabilities of success de- 

 cidedly in his favor. 



Thus far our friend has fished from the bank. He will 

 hereafter use a canoe; and since the greater part of the 

 reader's fishing will probably be so done, and since much 

 of what follows will be equally applicable to fishing from 

 the bank, and where it is not that fact will be quite ob- 

 vious, we will conclude in that way. 



The angler seats himself near the middle of the canoe 

 upon a box or other improvised seat. It will grow no 

 softer with use, and he will by no means regret it if 

 he has provided some form of cushion, though it be but 

 an old flour-bag to be stuffed with moss or hay. Both 

 ends of the canoe are alike in form, and either may and 

 will be used as the bow as convenience may require. 

 Still, since a name is necessary, we will call the end he 

 faces the stern. His gaffer occupies that end, his paddle, 

 gaff, and setting-pole within convenient reach. He is the 

 captain, and with him alone will the angler habitually 

 communicate and consult, and to him pay the hire of 

 men and boat. The bow is the station of one usually the 

 junior in years and experience of the gaffer, to whom he 



