66 OBSERVATIONS ON A SALMON RIVER 



Knowing that the trappers in the north- 

 ern woods lead their prey to their baited 

 traps with " charm oil," I conceived the 

 idea that fish might be enticed in a like 

 manner. 



This was difficult in seafishing as the fric- 

 tion caused by trolling a bait through the 

 water destroyed the odor of the " charm- 

 oil," but in fly-fishing I found it quite 

 simple. 



My first attempt was when fishing on a 

 salmon river in Canada. The river was low 

 and the water quite clear. I had been fish- 

 ing over a salmon of fair size that could 

 readily be seen lying on the bottom close to 

 a large stone. 



After trying different flies as well as dif- 

 ferent sizes of flies with no result, I handed 

 the rod to my canoeman, an old and very 

 experienced fisherman, and told him to have 

 a try. He used all his powers of persuasion 

 to entice the fish but with no success. 



As he handed me my rod I said: " Now 

 I shall show you how to take that fish." 



