FISHING IN NEWFOUNDLAND 251 



tension to prevent over-running. Do not forget to 

 keep it well oiled, or the bearings will soon wear 

 out. For a gaff it is far better to use the plain 

 tang hook, which is lashed to a suitable stick, than 

 any of the screw-in kind, which are apt to turn at 

 the critical moment. The automatic gaff is, like 

 the automatic reel, undesirable. 



In Newfoundland salmon fishing there is no best 

 time of day. Almost any hour may be good ; 

 perhaps from 10 to 11 in the morning, and from 

 3 to 4 in the afternoon are, if anjdhing, the best 

 hours. The kind of day for the best fishing is 

 another uncertainty. On one absolutely clear, 

 quiet, hot day we got twelve fish from one pool in 

 two hours (from 10 to 12 o'clock) with one rod. 

 Then again we had good luck on dark, cold days, 

 but as a rule you cannot count on much luck 

 during rain. After all is said and done, the only 

 absolutely sound advice that can safely be given to 

 the salmon fisherman is : " To be on hand when the 

 fish are rising, and give them the fly they want." 

 How to do these two things no man can say with 

 anything approaching exactness, and therein is one 

 of the fascinations of the sport. If we could find a 

 formula by which we knetv we could catch a 

 salmon, the whole pleasure would be lost, but, 

 fortunately, no modern science seems to be able to 

 fathom the ways of the game fish, and so we may 

 continue in our uncertain way to catch fish if, ivhen, 

 and where voe can. 



Now the popular idea that Newfoundland is a 

 very far distant and un-get-at-able place is much 

 exaggerated. Let us first take it from the American 



