250 SALMON AND TROUT. 
sport, will be found as a rule ready to offer him good advice if 
he will take it; and he may soon learn the rudiments of the 
art. He will have many opportunities of losing his temper, and 
will find out that the best thing he can do is to keep it. Fish- 
ing in club or open water is a series of ‘sells’ from morning to 
night ; all sorts of dodges are resorted to to attain the desired 
end, ‘Sport for self.’ I am reminded of the first sentence in 
the daily prayer of a certain Scotchman, which ran as follows : 
‘Gude Lord, tak’ every thing awa’ frae every mon, and gie it a’ 
to me;’ and this is what many salmon fishermen feel in their 
hearts as far as sport is concerned. JI am happy to say, 
however, that such ‘fish grabbers’ are exceptions. A salmon 
fisherman, as a rule, is always good company and a jovial 
fellow ; he is always ready to give a helping hand to a brother 
fisherman, and however much his temper may have been tried 
during the day it is generally all over at dinner-time, and by 
the time he goes to bed after a convivial glass or two with 
his friendly rivals, he has quite forgotten his ill-luck, deter- 
mined to be up and doing next day. About two years ago I 
was very cleverly done out of a good pool when fishing ina 
club water. In consequence of the early risers being in the 
habit of fishing all the pools over every morning before the hour 
when reasonable men came out, a rule was made that no fishing 
should commence before eight o’clock ; consequently the early 
risers were always on the water long before this time waiting 
at their favourite pools, watch in hand, ready to commence 
operations the moment the clock struck. 
Not being an early riser, I drove down one morning on the 
left bank of the river to where there were three celebrated 
pools almost running into each other, and one of which I hoped 
to secure. The road I travelled came all of a sudden in sight 
of the two upper pools, lying nearly parallel to them at a short 
distance off ; these were fished from the left bank, but the lowest 
of the three pools was fished from the right bank, and the river 
had to be crossed at the tail of the middle pool, in a boat, to 
be able to get at it. 
