SALMON - ANGLING. 71 



he, and several men of the brightest intellect whom I have 

 watched at the river-side, seemed more ignorant of their 

 favourite amusement than of any other thing. I should 

 not have wondered at any want of practical skill, so much 

 as their ignorance of the habits of fish ; in which department 

 they seemed scarcely to excel the herd-laddie, who stared 

 at them with vacant gaze. 



Every newly arrived salmon-fisher should secure the 

 services of the ablest native practitioner who may proffer 

 them, and will thus be shown all the best casts of the 

 river. It is absurd vanity to suppose oneself capable of 

 discovering them without a great waste of time. No 

 doubt a good salmon-angler will at once perceive the 

 places where fish are most likely to harbour; but the 

 misfortune is, that those casts which appear the most 

 certain may sometimes deceive, while there are particular 

 nooks, perhaps the least attractive even to an experienced 

 eye, where a fish is pretty likely to rise ; this is especially 

 the case when the river is swollen. An angler must have 

 but a poor knowledge of his craft, who, after once or twice 

 fishing down a stream under proper guidance, could not 

 afterwards manage for himself. It will be very necessary 

 to get a list of the most killing flies in use, on the spot, 

 and tie them of various shades and sizes. 



After being thoroughly shown the casts of the river 

 when swollen, it may be as well to have recourse to the 

 guide again, when it becomes small and clear ; as some 

 pools that are excellent in flood, are not worth a throw 

 when the water has fallen in, and others that were too 



