126 ANGLING SKETCHES 



It may be different in Norway or on the lower 

 casts of the Tweed, as at Floors, or Makerstoun ; 

 but higher up the country, in Scott's own country, 

 at Yair or Ashiesteil, there is often a terrible 

 amount of fruitless work to be done. And I 

 doubt if, except in throwing a very long line, and 

 knowing the waters by old experience, there is 

 verj' much skill in salmon-fishing. It is all an 

 affair of muscle and patience. The choice of flies 

 is almost a pure accident. Every one believes in 

 the fly with which he has been successful. These 

 strange combinations of blues, reds, golds, of tinsel 

 and worsted, of feathers and fur, are purely fan- 

 tastic articles. They are like nothing in nature, 

 and are multiplied for the fanciful amusement 

 of anglers. Nobody knows why salmon rise at 

 them ; nobody knows why they will bite on one 

 day and not on another, or rather, on many others. 

 It is not even settled whether we should use a 

 bright fly on a bright day, and a dark fly on a 

 dark day, as Dr. Hamilton advises, or reverse the 

 choice as others use. Muscles and patience, these, I 

 repeat, are the only ingredients of ultimate success. 



