Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/49

Rh quick darting larva. So far, stream fishing only lias been dealt with.

Lake Fishing differs in its practice materially from stream fishing, and though some flies which are used on streams will also kill on lakes, yet, for the most part, there is a fancy repertoire in this respect which differs wholly from that employed in streams. Lake-trout flies, particularly in Scotland, are made with wool bodies, the prevailing colours being red, claret, orange, yellow, green, and black, with a light spiral up the body of gold or silver tinsel. The hackles are chiefly either black or red, or red with a black centre ; the wings are either of teal, mallard, or woodcock. Here and there the white tip feather in the drake s wing is a favourite wing for flies. They are usually dressed on 7, 8, or 9 hooks ; the same flies a size or two larger do equally well for sea-trout flies.

Lake-trout fishing is conducted either from a boat or from the shore. The best depth of water in which to fish for trout varies from 6 or 8 to 12 or 14 feet, and between these depths the best sport is obtained; and the angler should therefore fish over them for choice, though occa sionally fish may be caught in both deeper and shallower water. In lake fishing it is always desirable to have a good ruffling breeze, as the fish do not rise or take well in a calm. The best places are in sheltered bays, by rocky points or islands, or where burns flow in; drifting along by these, and casting ahead and shorewards, the angler watches every break in the water. While drifting along in his boat, it may happen that, the wind being high, he drifts too fast to fish thoroughly and properly over the ground. To obviate this a stone or an anchor is cast over and allowed to drag along the bottom, so as to check the way of the boat, and to give time to the angler to fish. A good boatman and netsman is here a great desideratum, and much of the chance of sport depends upon him. The great fault of most boatmen is that they go too quickly over the casts ; and it requires a man with a knowledge of the lake, as well as experience in managing the boat, so to conduct matters that the angler has the best chance of sport. When rowing to his ground, or from point to point, the angler should always put out the spinning minnow, and thus he may take one or two of the best fish. As fish do not always lie in the same places, wind and weather have to be sedulously consulted. In fishing from the shore the angler seldom gets the best sport, and often has to wade to reach fishable water, while the best casts are often beyond his reach; and therefore, whenever a boat can be employed, it is to be preferred for lakes.

. 21.—The Salmon.

Salmon Fishing.

The salmon is the noblest and strongest fish on which the angler essays his art, and fish from 40 to 50 Ib in weight, and sometimes of even more, are occasionally taken by the rod and line ; though for the ordinary purposes of sport, fish from 7 or 8 Ib up to 20 are far more generally taken. When a salmon in good condition is

first hooked he makes a strong and violent resistance, dashing through the water frequently for a distance of 60 or 70 yards or more at a time, and compelling the angler to let so much line off the reel; springing out of the water, often to a height of several feet, several times during the struggle ; and finding that force is unavailing to break the line or withdraw the hook, he will often have recourse to cunning, and cut the line or rub the hook out of his nose against some rock ; or, hiding himself at the bottom behind big stones and boulders, he will sulk and remain immovable for a long time. Occasionally he will run up or down rapids or falls in his terror and rage. To control all these vagaries, to combat his cunning, the angler, with his bending rod and practised skill, lets him take out line when his struggles are dangerous, cautiously winding it back again when he is able to do so safely, and thus keep ing a certain strain upon the fish he gradually tires him out and wears his strength down, and at last, when un able to resist any longer, he is led in towards the shore, where upon some convenient rock or strand the attendant gaffsman stands or crouches, with a sharp-pointed steel hook attached to a short ashen staff called a gaff, waiting his opportunity. As the salmon is led past or near him, almost on the surface of the water, the hook is extended beyond the fish, the gaffsman makes a short sharp stroke with it, and digging the hook into the side of the salmon, with a sudden and instantaneous pull drags it out of the water to the land ; a rap on the skull from a stick or stone terminates the poor salmon s life, and henceforth he be comes mere provender. Sometimes a large landing-net is used to land the fish, but though this prevents the spoiling of a portion of the fish by avoiding the need for making a hole with the gaff, it is less convenient and of more risk to the safety of the fish. The most favourite plan of fishing for salmon is with the fly, though in many places they will also take both worm and minnow freely, and are thus fished for. The salmon-fly is a most wonderful conglo meration of feathers, silks, and tinsels, and oftentimes is as brilliant as the most glittering humming-bird. What the salmon mistakes it for is not easy to say, for there is nothing like it in nature. Probably a semi-transparent shrimp or prawn reflecting the gorgeous tints of the sur rounding sea vegetation may be the nearest approach to it. The manufacture of the salmon-fly is given hereafter. They are made of various sizes, the longest for the early spring when the rivers are much swollen and very turbid, when hooks of 3 inches in length, and sometimes even longer, are employed ; and from this extreme size they diminish gradually to a large sea-trout size, which is about in accordance with the hooks numbered 6 and 7 in the scale given in the illustration. These are used when the rivers have sunk down to their summer level, and are very clear and still, and the flies in the intervening sizes are carefully adjusted to suit the size and clearness of the water. There is a great difference in the method of using the trout and the salmon fly. In salmon fishing there are certain spots in the river upon which salmon are known to rest and to feed, and these are called salmon-caste, throws, lodges, or stands. They may be but a few yards in length, and comprise a favourite ledge, or a rock or two, behind which salmon like to shelter, for a salmon always has his lair or resting-place behind some projecting rock or stone; or they may extend for 100 or 200 yards. or even more. There are, too, in many rivers plenty of places where salmon may be seen sporting and jumping about, but where, owing to the depth of water or some other reason, they never feed or at least take the fly. The angler, therefore, who knows thoroughly the cast he is about to fish, has a great advantage, for he knows where the big stones and the particular eddies are in which a salmon 