d found in salmon which have been brought forward to
support the contrary opinion are in the scientific view to be regarded
with great caution; certainly in one case of recent years, which at
first appeared to be well authenticated, it was afterwards found that
a small trout had been pushed down a salmon's throat after capture
by way of a joke. A consideration of the question, however, which
may perhaps make some appeal to both sides, is put forward by Dr.J.
Kingston Barton in the first of the two volumes on _Fishing_ (_Country
Life_ Series). He maintains that salmon do not habitually feed
in fresh water, but he does not reject the possibility of their
occasionally taking food. His view is that after exertion, such as
that entailed by running from pool to pool during a spate, the fish
may feel a very transient hunger and be impelled thereby to snap
at anything in its vicinity which looks edible. The fact that the
angler's best opportunity is undoubtedly when salmon have newly
arrived into a pool, supports this contention. The longer they are
compelled to remain in the same spot by lack of water the worse
becomes the prospect of catching them, and "unfishable" is one of the
expressive words which fishermen use to indicate the condition of a
river during the long periods of drought which too often distinguish
the sport.

[v.02 p.0026]

_Salmon Tackle and Methods_.--It is when the drought breaks up and the
long-awaited rain has come that the angler has his chance and makes
ready his tackle, against the period of a few days (on some short
streams only a few hours) during which the water will be right;
_right_ is a very exact term on some rivers, meaning not only that the
colour of the water is suitable to the fly, but that its height shall
be within an inch or two of a given mark, prescribed by experience.
As to the tackle which is made ready, there is, as in most angling
matters, divergence of opinion. Salmon fly-rods are now made
principally of two materials, greenheart and split-cane; the former is
less expensive, the latter is more durable; it is entirely a matter of
taste which a man uses, but the split-cane rod is now rather more in
favour, and for salmon-fishing it is in England usually built with a
core of steel running from butt to tip and known as a "steel centre."
How long the rod shall be is also a matter on which anglers differ,
but from 16 ft. to 17 ft. 6 in. represents the limits within which
most rods are