would have looked rather queer if an officious friend had told him that all the sport was over when the forty-pound fish he landed above Yair Bridge was first hooked. And the great sculptor would have been equally astonished if the struggles of a sixteen-pound Thames trout had been treated with the like contempt! Whatever may be the reason, all true anglers know that the doubtful contest with a monster-fish forms no inconsiderable part of the enjoyment; and his being laid upon the shelving bank the crowning point of all. No doubt the philosophy or the poetry of angling was one reason of its being the pastime of so many great minds; but when even contemplative Wotton had fairly landed a gorgeous fish, I will venture to say that the triumph of success swallowed up every other pleasure.

But, without analysing their feelings, we know not how much we owe to this recreation of departed genius. Might not the safety-lamp have been lit amid the limpid waters of the Tweed, and some of the most beautiful creations of Chantrey's fancy been first conceived on the green banks of Father Thames? Great men, however, can sometimes be great boys at the water-side. I have witnessed, with some amusement, the late Sir Charles Bell's comical vexation, when an unlooked-for rod bore down upon him. His testy frown, when interfered with, was quite irresistible-proof enough of his eagerness in the sport. But perhaps this unbending of the bow may have given it double power when strung again. Sir Charles was only a second-rate fisher, and it often seemed curious to me that

he, and several men of the brightest intellect whom I have watched at the river-side, seemed more ignorant of their favourite amusement than of any other thing. I should not have wondered at any want of practical skill, so much as their ignorance of the habits of fish; in which department they seemed scarcely to excel the herd-laddie, who stared at them with vacant gaze.

Every newly arrived salmon-fisher should secure the services of the ablest native practitioner who may proffer them, and will thus be shown all the best casts of the river. It is absurd vanity to suppose oneself capable of discovering them without a great waste of time. No doubt a good salmon-angler will at once perceive the places where fish are most likely to harbour; but the misfortune is, that those casts which appear the most certain may sometimes deceive, while there are particular nooks, perhaps the least attractive even to an experienced eye, where a fish is pretty likely to rise; this is especially the case when the river is swollen. An angler must have but a poor knowledge of his craft, who, after once or twice fishing down a stream under proper guidance, could not afterwards manage for himself. It will be very necessary to get a list of the most killing flies in use, on the spot, and tie them of various shades and sizes.

After being thoroughly shown the casts of the river when swollen, it may be as well to have recourse to the guide again, when it becomes small and clear; as some pools that are excellent in flood, are not worth a throw when the water has fallen in, and others that were too

foaming and boiling when the river was large, then come The resorts of salmon, however, are

into prime order.

much more easily detected when the river is low.

This

state of the water also requires considerable difference in the fly, chiefly in size. In my opinion, most salmonfishers use too large hooks.

A stranger will often find his guide's knowledge superior to his practice; and that is the reason why the lower orders frequently excel those who might appear to a spectator to throw a better and finer line. Some anglers have an additional piece to screw on to their rods for long casts; a very thin butt is required when this piece is not added, and it is more apt to twist the rod. If equal in other respects, a man who has the power of throwing a very long line has the same advantage over a less gifted friend, in this particular, that a far-killing gun has over an inferior one, both in the same skilful hands. I should, therefore, advise every aspirant to excellence in salmonfishing to attain this knack in the greatest possible perfection.

Some anglers who throw the longest line make it swirl out upon the water, the hook appearing to alight last. Others cause the fly to hover for a moment, and touch the water before any part of the line. These last appear the neater fishers, but the others command more water. In fishing a salmon-cast, throw a point down stream, bringing your hook gradually round by short jerks, but always keep it two points against the stream, and never bring it in so straight towards you as in trout-fishing. In

dead water, when a very long cast, you may throw straight out, bringing your fly round, by keeping the point of the rod up instead of down stream. There is an under-handed throw much in use on the Spey, which prevents the line from circling behind. Of course this is a great advantage among trees or other obstacles. It is generally practised up stream, and the line with its swish upon the water goes over all the fish before they see the fly, which appears to me a great objection. These Spey-fishers can throw this under-handed cast as far as an expert hand in the ordinary way. A peculiar rod is necessary, which must be very stiff. Indeed, a common salmon-rod would be apt to break in the hands of these fishers. The cast is easily learned, and must be seen to be thoroughly understood.

Rapid

Large rivers require a large rather than a gaudy fly, which must decrease in size as the river narrows. brawling streams, on the contrary, take a gaudy fly rather than a large one. There are many Highland burns where

salmon and sea-trout ascend in numbers in the autumn. These being generally shallow and rapid, a large fly would frighten as many as it would attract. If you fish with a small hook of sober colour in such troubled water, it might not catch their sight. Streams of this kind are in best order when tumbling over stock and stone something the colour of London porter. The reason that a large fly of sombre hue is preferred for a stately river, arises from the depth and clearness of the water. A large fly is required to catch attention of fish at the bottom, while gay colours would be apt to alarm them as they come up, when the

water is so clear. When a large river is also rapid, as in the higher parts of the Tay, the fly may be proportionably bright. The size of the stream is an excellent criterion for that of the hook; and you may see every village urchin fishing for the spring trout in Tweed with a hook double the size of that he uses in Gala, or any of the other tributaries, for the very same purpose: the favourite fly in both cases being a woodcock-wing, hare's-ear body, tied with blue thread.

These

The regular fishermen, as they call themselves, of any particular river, will hold up the flies they are accustomed to use, and affirm that they will kill in any water. men have, of course, a great advantage over occasional visitors, both from their knowledge of the flies and places where the fish lie; gentlemen are therefore apt to overrate their pretensions, and pay compliments which they suck down as eagerly as (by their own account) the salmon do their flies. But take both to a strange river and leave them to their unaided resources, and, if equal in other respects, the advantage ought to be on the side of the amateur; because, from the variety of rivers in his fishing tours, he gains twice the insight into the habits of fish; although he may not appear to the same advantage with a far inferior fisher, when the latter is upon his own regular beat. Nevertheless, I must say that most gentlemen are so careless of everything but throwing the line, that the advantage gained by their more extensive means of observation is more than counterbalanced by the reflection of the lower orders, who put all their head-piece into their practice.