ANGLING ALL THE YEAR ROUND. 95 



regain its liberty ; and during the progress of the battle the 

 angler has certainly to wade, ay and be pulled once or twice 

 through the stream, so that he comes in for a thorough drenching, 

 and may, as many have to do, go home after a hard day's work 

 without being rewarded by the capture of a single fish. 



There is abundance of good salmon-angling to be had at the 

 proper season in the north of Scotland, where there are always 

 a great variety of fishings to let at prices suitable for all pockets; 

 and there is nothing better either for health or recreation than a 

 day on a salmon stream. There are one or two places on Tweed 

 frequented by anglers who take a fishing as a sort of joint-stock 

 company, and who, when they are not angling, talk politics, 

 make poetry, bandy about their polite chafi', and generally " go 

 in," as they say, for any amount of amusement. These societies 

 are of course very select, and not easily accessible to strangers, 

 being of the nature of a . club. The plan which every angler 

 ought to adopt on going to a strange water is to place himself 

 under the guidance of some shrewd native of the place, who wiU 

 show him all the best pools and aid him with his advice as to what 

 flies he ought to use, and give him many useful hints on other 

 points as weU. Anglers, however, must divide their attention, 

 for it is quite as interesting (not to speak of convenience) for 

 some men to spend a day on the Thames killing barbel or roach 

 as it is to others to kill a ten-pound salmon on the Tweed or the 

 Spey. It is good sport also to troll for pike in the Lodden or 

 to capture grayling in beautiful Dovedale. And so pleasant has 

 of late years become the sport, that it is now quite a common 

 sight to see a gentle-bom lady handling a salmon-rod with much 

 vigour on some of our picturesque Highland or border streams. 

 In fact, angling is a recreation that can be made to suit all 

 classes, from the chUd with his stick and crooked pin to the 

 gentleman with his well-mounted rod and elaborate tackle, who 

 hies away in his yacht to the fiords of Norway in search of 

 salmon that weigh from twenty to forty pounds, and require half 

 a day to capture. For those, however, who desire to stay at 

 home there is abundant angling all the year round. From New- 

 Year's Day to Christmas there needs be no stoppage of the sport ; 

 even the weather should never stop an enthusiastic angler ; but 

 on very bad days, when it is not possible to go out of doors, there 

 is the study of the fish, and their natural and economic history, 

 which ought to be interesting to all who use the angle, and to 

 the majority of mankind besides. 



