THE PRAXIS OF SALMON ANGLING. 
tive, it is worse than useless. Try the 
temper of the hook by inserting the 
point in a piece of soft wood and giv- 
ing it a steady, moderate pull. If it 
be weak it will break at the neck. 
Try your flies when you buy them; 
it saveth vexation of spirit and humil- 
ity that abases itself. Hold the bend 
of the hook firmly in one hand and 
then see if you can move the head and 
wings ; if they shift, the fly is not well 
tied, and thereon suffer not yourself 
to be persuaded, 
There be single and double hooked 
flies. The former permit delicate cast- 
ing and finer pitching; the latter are 
surer in holding and not so easily ex- 
pelled by the salmon. 
When fishing with large flies, em- 
ploy single hooks ; in small flies, double 
hooks are more advantageous. 
This is the Canon of the Cast: 
The line must straighten without 
slack, curve or loop from reel to fly, 
and the fly, ephemerally hovering, 
pitch to the water the briefest instant 
ere the line falls. 
Some anglers prevent the recoil and 
doubling up of the line as it lengthens 
out on the cast, by holding a short 
length between the reel and the hand, 
which is freed at the instant the line 
pitches, thereby shooting the line out 
_ straight. 
Some anglers shoot a considerable 
length of line, and consequently em- 
ploy that method for casting long dis- 
tance. 
Always move the rod up stream so 
that the line is kept taut and activity 
maintained in the movement of the fly. 
Always begin. above the pool and 
fish down stream so that the fly is put 
over every inch of good water. 
The fly should always swim beneath 
the surface; therefore waste no time in 
dry casting, skittering, skipping, or 
other surface movement. 
Salmon lie immediately above the 
bottom of the river, and the fly should 
swim well beneath the surface. 
The dip-dip (wriggle) of the rod 
causes the fly to dart forward and sag 
263 
backward, the wings and hackle open- 
ing outward, giving the idea of a liv- 
ing thing, sensing the food instinct. 
The quiet, swift passing of the fly 
around the arc, carried downward by 
the current without life other than 
pointing ‘gainst the tide—the mere 
passing before—tends to aggravation, 
play, ete. 
Which is the better? 
both! 
The former motion violently waged 
(which also permits the fly to sink) 
will sometimes foul-hook the salmon 
and that, indeed, warrants the use, for 
then is a sagacious wit wanted. 
Yet quoth Francis: 
“That the angler should make the 
fly work so that the fiber-like pinions 
open and shut like a living thing is all 
chips and porridge!” 
If the line is thrown directly across 
the stream it tends to bag, thereby 
making slack and giving the fly a 
draggled, dead appearance. 
Consistently with a taut line, the fly 
can not move too slowly through the 
water. 
The more down stream the cast is 
made, the slower the fly travels on 
the arc; hence, the greater the oppor- 
tunity for the salmon to see the fly; 
the greater the ability of the salmon 
to seize the fly; the greater facility the 
angler has of gauging the line of 
travel and knowing where the salmon 
lies; the more power the angler has 
to maintain a straight, taut line and 
avoid bagging. 
The fly must move actively to 
arouse the attention of the fish; have 
the appearance of endeavoring to es- 
cape, and so excite the passion of the 
salmon; therefore, in heavy water it 
is best not to wriggle the rod, or vio- 
lently jerk the fly, but to trust to the 
stream to give motion and let the fly 
travel slowly and actively across the 
vision of the salmon. 
When angling in quiet water, where, 
owing to the absence of swift current, 
the line doubles quickly, take in short 
lengths, with one hand holding it firm- 
Be apt in 
