NOTES ON SALMON-FISHING. 
59 
Gaffing. —This, to my mind, is a very pretty part of 
the operation, requiring a quick eye and dexterous hand. 
It seems a pity to relegate the final stroke to a gillie or 
gaffer. The angler cannot well gaff his own fish, unless 
he has practically killed it first; but where two men are 
fishing together, each may gaff the other’s fish and 
derive no small satisfaction from smart work. 
The gaff itself should be a plain, strong ash stick, 
five feet long, with steel cleek, costing only four or five 
shillings. Avoid the smart-looking, brass-mounted toys 
of the tackle-makers (with spare top inside !), which are 
certain to come to grief at the critical moment. 
Gut .—Waste no money on the gaff, but be as extra¬ 
vagant as you can afford on the gut. Have the best, if 
it cost a pound a cast, for one good length will outlast 
many inferior, and be actually cheaper in the long run ; 
while of infinitely greater importance is the mental 
comfort that good gut assures to the angler when it 
comes to “ putting on steam,” or stopping the career of 
a wayward fish at all hazards. 
II. Harling. 
The salmon-rivers of Norway vary infinitely, alike 
in size, season, and the sources of their water-supply. 
Many fulfil one’s early ideal, when fancy conceived 
nothing but turbulent torrents with seething fosses, 
mountain-born masses of disrupted waters fretting and 
fuming in cataract or cascade amidst obstructing rock 
and precipice. 
There are rivers in Norway that are torrential enough, 
but the majority of Norsk streams glide in vast volume 
