248 AMERICAN FISHES. 



Very certain it is that the fly must not be jerked or twitched away 

 quickly, as is done by ninety-nine hundredths of novices, who thereby, 

 instead of fixing the bait in, flirt it out of the mouth of the Salmon, 

 and probably prick him in doing so, rendering him thereby shy of 

 again looking at the bait, and teaching him a lesson, which he may 

 not forget in many days. 



At two moments only, of the ordinary cast of a fly, is the fish nearly 

 sure to hook himself — that is, when it first alights on the surface of 

 the stream, and when it is in the very act of being withdrawn from it, 

 for the purpose of making a fresh throw— for at these two moments 

 only is it necessarily at the end of a taut extended line. When a 

 fish strikes boldly at either of these two points of time, it is very sure 

 to hook itself without any exertion of the angler ; but if the line is in 

 the slightest degree curved or baggy, unless there is a certain almost 

 indescribable movement of the wrist, the fly will often be rejected, 

 owing to the discovery of its quality, and the fish will so escape scot- 

 free. 



This striking I have seen variously described, but never, in my 

 opinion, comprehensibly. I consider that the great thing in fly-fish- 

 ing is to keep the line always as straight as possible, never allowing 

 any portion of it to float on the water, and to have the fly never sub- 

 merged, nor yet skipping, but trailed evenly along the ripples, as if it 

 were naturally floating down, at the end of a straight extended line. 

 By this method, the chances of striking your Salmon, without any effort 

 on your own part, will be hugely increased. If, however, it be found 

 necessary to strike, this must not be done by a jerk or backward whip 

 movement of the rod, but by the slightest possible turn of the wrist 

 inward and downward — what that turn is, every angler knows, but it 

 certainly cannot be described in writing, nor can it be, I think, very 

 easily demonstrated — so exceeding slight it is — by example. 



More fish are, in my opinion, lost by clumsiness, and especially by 

 over-violence at this moment, than at any other time ; the utmost 

 caution, therefore, and delicacy of manipulation, are indispensable ; 

 and at first, until he has killed some fish, and obtained some practical 

 experience in the art, I confidently advise the novice to beware of 

 striking ; to allow the fish, if possible, to hook himself ; and rather to 

 lose him from his not doing so, than from his own act by whipping the 



