THE 



AMERICAN SALMON-FISHERMAN. 



OIUPTBB I. 



HOW AND WHERE SALMON-FISHING MAY BE OBTAINED. 



That where there was one fly-fisherman in the United 

 States ten years ago there are ten now, is a general and 

 perhaps iin exaggerated helief. He who is interested in 

 and familiar with an art almost necessarily looks above 

 and beyond the level he may have attained, and aspires 

 to the highest development in it of which he may have 

 knowledge. Especially is this so in regard to fly-fishing. 

 Its practice is begun with indifference — oftentimes out 

 of mere good-fellowship, and to calm the missionary zeal 

 of some persistent friend. But it is followed with an en- 

 joyment which, should opportunity serve, speedily ripens 

 into enthusiasm, and he who was but recently a less than 

 lukewarm acolyte is now a zealot. Such was the experi- 

 ence of the writer, and such has been the experience of 

 many of his friends. Expose the proper temperament to 

 the contagion and the disease surely follows, and the 

 mental constitution undergoes a permanent and indelible 

 modification as the result. Recreation must thereafter be 

 sought rod in hand, and face to face with nature. 



May this disease, — if disease it may be called, — every 



