A DISTRESSFUL DA Y 435 



on a message and taken the gaff with him. I could not 

 'tail' the fish, as it was in deep water. In the next 

 pool I hooked a 24-pounder and killed it. Then 

 another heavy fish in the same pool at the tail of 

 Charlie ; another fish, evidently a heavy one, ran 

 me down to Groam Pool, where, after a ten minutes' 

 struggle, the hook broke. I then hooked another 

 large fish at the tail of Groam, the hook also break- 

 ing in the same manner. I then thought that it was 

 about time to stop using these flies, and did so, but 

 never a fish could I rise with anything else for two 

 days, until I had time to tie up some flies of the same 

 pattern for myself One can hardly be too careful in 

 any particular as regards one's fishing gear, in order to 

 avoid the chance of an accident, and I always feel twice 

 the confidence when fishing with tackle which I have 

 made myself ; and with such confidence one can do 

 better than when uncertain what amount of strain the 

 tackle will sustain. 



After a day's fishing the line should always be un- 

 wound off the reel and hung up to dry. I have often 

 known cases where good fish, and yards of line to boot, 

 have been lost through the line having been left wet 

 on the reel for some time and so become rotten. 



On one occasion, when salmon-fishing from a boat, 

 in hooking a fish I gave the rod a jerk, and away went 

 my reel into the river, owing to the careless way in 

 which it had been fastened on by the gillie. Boatmen 

 are very apt to be careless in such matters, and it is 

 ever the better plan to see to all such things for one's 

 self, and to trust no one else to do them. 



During the same week another mishap occurred 

 through the carelessness of the same gillie. He had 



