SALMON FISHING WITH THE FLY. 237 



STRIKING A RISING SALMON. 



There are different methods adopted for striking a salmon, 

 A great many experienced anglers advocate striking or hitting a 

 rising fish ' from the winch,' without the line being touched. 

 Others say it is necessary to strike with the line held tight 

 between hand and rod. Others, that if the line be held tight 

 between hand and rod, a fish will hook himself without striking ; 

 and this latter is decidedly my way of thinking, and I am con- 

 vinced that striking is a mistake. The question of striking or 

 not striking is of the greatest importance, and I will therefore 

 endeavour to explain the pros and cons of each system. 



Striking from the winch has many advocates. The advan- 

 tage claimed for it is that, with a properly constructed reel, 

 a salmon can be hooked before the reel plate revolves, but 

 that it will revolve before the fish turns. This may be so, 

 but I cannot understand how the point of the hook, particu- 

 larly if it is a big one, can be forced over the barb unless 

 the line is held tight, or the winch a very stiff one, a very 

 unpleasant thing to use, and involving the utmost danger in 

 playing a lightly hooked fish. My belief is, that in the case 

 of any salmon struck from the winch, in whose mouth a 

 hook has been found fixed over the barb, the result is due 

 to the pulling and dragging he gets when being played, and 

 which must, sooner or later, have this effect. If an easy running 

 reel be used, which is in my opinion the proper one, the reel 

 plate will revolve the moment the line is tightened in a fish, 

 and, if the line be not held tight, the barb cannot get fixed, 

 unless the hook is a very small one. These remarks are 

 equally applicable to single and to double hooks. 



Long before the question as to the advantage of striking 

 from the winch when using double hooks was discussed in the 

 sporting press, I had given the double- hook plan an extended 

 trial, but I lost so many fish with them, that I gave them up. 

 I did not strike from the winch, and I am told by advocates of 



