App. B. Mahseer versus salmon. 259 



especially in a good river. For gameness and vigour the 

 Mahseer, to my thinking, is superior to any salmon; his 

 rushes are grand. His not taking fly as readily as bait is 

 of course a drawback. A friend has landed a 63-pounder 

 in splendid condition with fly; but still it is undeniable 

 that a man fishing with bait, natural or artificial, will 

 make a heavier bag than one fishing with fly only. As 

 far as my experience goes, phantom minnows, natural 

 bait, and spoon are all equally good, and I invariably 

 gave them all a try over the same water. I used to weigh 

 my line very heavily, putting on at least the weight of an 

 Enfield bullet, and to that* I attribute my catching heavi- 

 er fish than A. The phantoms we used were at least 6 

 inches long. Big fish, however, have been landed with 

 much smaller ones. The principal objection to the small 

 phantoms is the difficulty-}- of being able to' use hooks 

 strong enough. My favorite spoon was the size of a des- 

 sert spoon. 



The sun in the daytime in March is powerful, the 

 nights are very cool — almost cold. The previous year we 

 fished in April; even then living under canvass is bearable; 

 but the great objection is not so much the actual heat 

 as the constant dread of the snows melting, for when 

 that happens an end is of course put to all sport for the 

 season. 



* Because the Mahseer is mainly a bottom feeder, and » great fish 

 eater. — See page 29 et seq. 



f This difficulty is got over by a hook made specially for Mahseer. — 

 See page 162. 



33* 



