60 



THE SALMON. 



rocks — give him the butt and turn him again. He conies 

 round — he cannot bear that steady pull — what excellen 

 tackle ! lead him downwards — he follows reluctantly, but he 

 is beginning to fag. Keep winding up your line as you lead 

 him along. He is inclined to take a rest at the bottom, but 

 as you hope to land him, do not grant him a moment. Throw 

 in a large stone at him, but have both your eyes open — one 

 on your rod, and the other on the place where the fish lieB — 

 lest he make a rush when you are stooping for a stone, and 

 break loose. Great, at this moment, is the advantage of the 

 angler who has a ' cast ' in his eye ! That stone has startled 

 the fish — no rest for salmo — and now he darts to the surface. 

 ' Up wi taily ! ' what a leap ! it is well you humored him by 

 dipping the top of your rod, or he would have gone free. 

 Again and again ! these are the last efforts of despair, and 

 they have exhausted him. He is seized with stupor, like a 

 stout gentleman who has suddenly exerted himself after 

 dinner, or a boxer who has just received a swinging blow 011 

 the jugular. Draw him towards the shore, he can scarcely 

 move a fin. Quick, the gaff is in his gills, and now you have 

 him out ; and as he' lies stretched on the pebbles, with his 

 silver sides glancing in the sun, you think that you never 

 caught a handsomer fish in your life, though you perceive 

 that you have been wrong in your estimate of his weight — 

 thirty pounds — for it is evident that he does not weigh more 

 than thirteen. It was exactly half-past seven when you 

 hooked him, and when you look at your watch after landing 

 him, you perceive that it wants a quarter to nine, so that he 

 nas kept you in exercise exactly an hour and a quarter." 



Artificial Flies for Salmon Fishing. The flies used in 

 this country for taking salmon, do not differ materially from 

 those used in England, Ireland, or Scotland. In the fly sea- 

 son, those of the most gaudy description are generally used. 



