250 Something like'sport. App. B. 



splendid fish of 40 lbs. In addition to this monster he 

 had hooked five others, all of which got away. As the 

 day turned out cloudy, and our keenness was redoubled 

 by the sight of the 40-pounder, off we started soon after 

 breakfast, and made a brilliant beginning by landing a 

 36 lbs. and 40 lbs. between us. Then came a lull, and 

 we did nothing till the afternoon was well advanced; then 

 we had sport indeed. On our return to camp there was 

 laid out before our admiring gaze, as the result of our 

 day's sport, seven fish, of 44 lbs., 40 lbs., 36 lbs., 18 lbs., 

 and 14 lbs., making a total of 210 lbs. — a feat as regards 

 actual weight for number of fish seldom, if ever, surpassed 

 in rod fishing, and as regards sport certainly unequalled. 

 I have never seen salmon run as vigorously or as long 

 as these fish ; they are game to the backbone ; and, bear- 

 ing in mind that we were fishing with treble gut, it will 

 be seen that their powers of endurance are very great, 

 for I never spare my fish — in fact, I fear, I lost some 

 by being oversevere with them. During their run they 

 take out the line so very quickly, that one has the great- 

 est difficulty in preventing it from hanking on the reel, in 

 consequence of the bar on which the line is wound re-* 

 volving after the fish stops running. At first I fished 

 with reel and rings under the rod, but I found that did 

 not answer, as some of the rings were cut through in a 

 couple of days by the friction of the line; so I was 

 speedily converted to the Irish fashion of reversing the 

 rod as soon as a fish was hooked, thereby having the 

 reel and rings uppermost, and so placing all the strain 



