66 



TWO SALMON ON ONE CAST. 



was most politic to use one or two flies when salmon 

 fishing, more particularly where this species was nu- 

 merous, or the river was filled with obstructions. On 

 a clearish day, with a nice breeze, the bob-fly will rise 

 and probably hook the most fish ; on the other hand, 

 when the water is soiled from the effects of late heavy 

 rains, the trail-fly will receive the most attention. 

 Now, in either case a difficulty may occur, and in 

 wild, strange waters it most frequently arises. It is 

 this. The salmon on the bob-fly, when it feels the 

 hook^ makes a desperate effort for freedom, the trail- 

 fly following its course like a pennant ; should its 

 point touch a stone or " snag," then, inevitably, smash 

 will go your casting line. The same, of course, can 

 occur to the bob-fly when you have a fish fast on the 

 trail one, but my experience tells me not so frequently 

 as in the first-mentioned instance. 



Considering these possible mishaps, it would be an 

 exceedingly nice and intricate piece of arithmetic to 

 calculate whether the odds for making a heavy basket 

 were more in your favour when fishing for salmon 

 with one or two flies on your cast. 



I have known good men and true espouse'both 

 sides of this question, and get extremely irate when 

 they could not make converts of each other. 



At Halifax, Nova Scotia, I made the acquaintance 

 of as good a fellow and fisherman as I ever met. His 

 temper was angelic on all subjects but that of using 

 a bob-fly, but if any unfortunate should advance and 

 approve of it, then it took an extra " tot," a pipe of 

 strong tobacco, and two friends to keep him quiet. 

 I knew that there must be some cause for this unusual 

 excitement in one generally so amiable, so I inquired 

 if it was not so, and requested him to state the facts. 

 They are as follows : — When fishing in Norway on 

 the Namsen, close under the Fiskum Foss, he hooked, 

 and all but banked, a salmon 7olbs. weight, but 

 lost it through the " d — d bob-fly " getting fast in 





