60 
THE SALMON. 
rocks give him the butt and turn him again. He comes 
round he cannot bear that steady pull — what excellent 
tackle ! lead him downwards— he follows reluctantly, but he 
is beginning to fag. Keep winding up your line as you lead 
him along. He is inclined to take a rest at the bottom, but 
as you hope to land him, do not grant him a moment. Throw 
in a large stone at him, but have both your eyes open — one 
on your rod, and the other on the place where the fish lies — 
lest he make a rush when you are stooping for a stone, and 
break loose. Great, at this moment, is the advantage of the 
angler who has a ‘cast ’ in his eye ! That stone has startled 
the fish no rest for salmo— and now he darts to the surface. 
* yP w * tail y • ’ what a leap ! it is well you humored him by 
dipping the top of your rod, or he would have gone free. 
Again and again ! these are the last efforts of despair, and 
they have exhausted him. He is seized with stupor, like a 
stout gentleman who has suddenly exerted himself after 
dinner, or a boxer who has just received a swinging blow on 
the jugular. Draw him towards the shore, he can scarcely 
move a fin. Quick, the gaff is in his gills, and now you have 
him out ; and as he lies stretched on the pebbles, with his 
silver sides glancing in the sun, you think that you never 
caught a handsomer fish in your life, though you perceive 
that you have been wrong in your estimate of his weight- 
thirty pounds — for it is evident that he does not weigh more 
than thirteen. It was exactly half-past seven when you 
hooked him, and when you look at your watch after landing 
him, you perceive that it wants a quarter to nine, so that he 
Has kept you in exercise exactly an hour and a quarter." 
Artificial Flies for Salmon Fishing. The flies used in 
this country for taking salmon, do not differ materially from 
those used in England, Ireland, or Scotland. In the fly sea- 
son, those of the most gaudy description are generally used. 
