58 ANGLING 



by tumbling across the line ; the latter accident scarcely 

 ever fails to set him free. There is a remarkable 

 difference in salmon in reference to their particular 

 movements after being hooked ; some never leap at all, 

 while others are continually at it. When the fish takes 

 what is called the sulks, the chances of killing him, 

 when the bottom of the water is not favourable, are 

 very problematical. 



A salmon will rise again and again at the fly after he 

 has once missed it. In this respect he differs widely 

 from the trout. We have seen the salmon miss the fly 

 a dozen times in succession, and at last take it greedily. 

 Should he, however, be slightly hooked in any instance, 

 and break off, he will come no more — at anyrate, not 

 for a considerable time. 



It is an essential part of an angler's knowledge 

 to be able to detect, with a glance of an eye, the 

 most probable places where salmon may be expected 

 to lie. When fishing in lakes, he must necessarily 

 take the water at hazard; but in rivers and smaller 

 streams, a considerable latitude is afforded him for a 

 display of judgment and skill. It is not often that the 

 fish are to be found in long straggling streams, com- 

 paratively shallow and not leading directly into a longer 

 or shorter reach of deep and still water. They are 

 always very shy in trusting themselves in such places ; 

 on the contrary, a rapid stream running directly into a 

 sheet of deep and still way, is the most probable haunt 

 for fish. Many large fish, however, never go into the 

 streams at all ; they keep in deep water amongst large 

 stones, brush-roots, and old sunken roots of trees. 

 When, therefore, there is a fine and brisk curl on the 

 surface of the water, and it is otherwise in good 

 condition, the deeps are the places for finding fish. The 

 shallow end or tail of a good long stretch of water, where 

 there is a broad bed of gravel or slopes, is, in all salmon- 

 rivers, a favourite locality for the fly-fisher. 



