SALMON-FISHING 



this, after all, is the great thing that the fly is shown 

 them in the proper way and at the psychological 

 moment when the impulse to take something of the 

 kind is in them. If this be true and I hope it is 

 then we have in the consequent glorious and complete 

 uncertainty of salmon-fishing a great and sufficient 

 reason for its lasting fascination. The pursuit of 

 some wayward, impulsive, and beautiful creature 

 for the salmon in its way is beautiful for whose 

 conduct, under any given set of circumstances, there 

 are no reliable data to guide us, has always, and will 

 always, attract the sons of men. 



The charms of this uncertainty all fishermen have, 

 no doubt, amply proved and enjoyed in their own 

 experience. 



A favourite pool in the Quaale beat was the Long 

 Pool, an ideal salmon stream. At the head ran a 

 strong white current, gradually widening out without 

 any too violent curls or boils into a smooth, broad, 

 steadily -running water, every part of which, for 

 80 to 100 yards wide and 150 long, was theoretically 

 good for a taking fish. The one bank was a long, 

 gravelly bed ; the other, steep, grassy, and tree-covered. 



It could be fished from a boat, and also, the best 

 part of it, by deep wading from the gravelly bank. 



One of its peculiarities was that it seldom fished 

 alike for consecutive days. It would go off and 

 lose its character for a week, and then, when least 

 expected, would yield half a dozen fish or more in 

 an afternoon. 



It was after one of these unlucky weeks on this 

 particular pool that MacGregor decided one day to 

 try the water above the foss, and left me to give the 

 Long Pool another turn. 



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