SWINGING A FISH INTO STILL WATER 417 



him, the latter neither too heavy nor too Hght, until he 

 has led him into the slack water, which, needless to re- 

 mark, must be on his own side of the stream. In order 

 to so land a fish the strain must never be relaxed for a 

 second, unless a fresh rush is made, when, of course, 

 the fish must be allowed to run, or a smash-up will 

 most certainly follow. If a fish once succeeds in getting 

 the better of the ' tug of war,' it will be some little time 

 before the fisherman will again be able to obtain com- 

 mand of him, and he will take precious good care not to 

 be again taken at a disadvantage, and again enticed 

 down-stream ; and none save a very skilful hand, who 

 is thoroughly up to every dodge a fish can bring to 

 bear, is likely to succeed in such an attempt. Nothing 

 requires greater skill and judgment ; I have known 

 even old fishermen try it on, and make such a mess of 

 it as not only to lose the fish, but several yards of line 

 to boot. When a fish takes in the situation, he gener- 

 ally makes up-stream as hard as he can go, and until 

 he is done it is not a wise plan to try to turn him 

 down-stream again. When a fish does succeed in 

 getting away from the strain put on him to head him 

 down-stream, he generally fights hard, and shows 

 sport which almost repays one for the risk and 

 trouble taken. 



A fish which is lightly hooked may be easily recog- 

 nised by the way he behaves when he is struck with 

 the steel. Such fish wriggle to and fro and shake 

 their heads about, and jump out of the water at the 

 end of every rush. The best plan to adopt is to 

 endeavour as nearly as possible to keep the same 

 tension on the line as when the fish was struck, for if 

 it is ever so slightly relaxed, the chances are that the 



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