a Or eee Ears 
182 AMERICAN GAME. 
think the advice sound and good. When he is struck 
you must make him fight for every inch of line you give 
him, holding him very hard, but of course giving rather 
than letting him break you, until he becomes exhausted ; 
if he plunges to the bottom and sulks, you must arouse 
him by stirring the water with a pole or pelting him 
with pebbles, for your “only chance of killing him de- 
pends,” to borrow the words of Davy’s Salmonia, “‘ on 
his being kept constantly in action, so that he may ex- 
haust himself by exercise.” 
When he is wearied out,when he turns up his broad, 
bright side exhausted on the surfac®, let your assistant 
pass the sharp, hooked gaff carefully under him, and 
strike it home by one cool, steady, upward jerk, and he 
is yours. Myself, I prefer to gaff in the solid muscular 
tail, behind the ventral cavity, as affording the best hold ; 
but many good sportsmen prefer to strike in the shoulder. 
as giving more command of the fish—so that he i: 
gaffed, however, it matters not much where, for he is 
pretty certainly ashore a moment afterward. I may 
as well here mention that while on a visit in Troy 
recently, I was shown a new spring or click gaff, which 
must unquestionably supersede the old hook. It is 
easy of management, unerring, and can be handled with 
success by the most awkward country lad, and every 
sportsman knows how often he is annoyed by the clum- 
siness of an assistant who merely grazes a beaten fish, 
and goads him into fresh fury, perhaps causing his event- 
