Show afano arup V A day s march north ot bergen the well known bogne fjord pierces the of norway for a distance of some 70 miles it Is I 1 believe the longest fjord in scandinavia along its indented border on either side are scattered small towns and tam houses surrounded by small patches of cultivation behind which rise the rocky here and there thickly wooded everlasting hills patched with snow as to their sides and summits bv contrast the little red and white houses nesti ng at their feet look like children s toy erections from the deck 11 the little fjord steamer on which our fishing party stand this same steamer Is by way an annoying means ot conveyance tor ardent salmon fishermen keen to arrive at their destination tor its course Is devious and zigzag to the last de gree our river Is not much over miles by water from bergen but the fjord steamer has to maintain connect alon with dozens ot the small towns and villages a ready mentioned and so enable them to keep touch with one another and with the world so we tuss across the bogne sogne fjord backwards and forwards here and there stopping at small land ng stages taking off and landing passengers dropping a pound 0 tea at this place a packet of soap or a parcel of hard ware at that going up a little branch fjord and down again until one wearies ot the process and even the wild scandinavian scenery begins to pal some 60 miles up the bogne sogne on the north side at the head of the branch florl a mill blue snow fed river rushes headlong into aea water it Is named the aaro and la some respects is a mystery and a marvel to the orthodox fisherman ahls river Is the outlet for lakes mountain girt and of course snow fed that run up into the greit field mainland ot norway tor son e 25 miles these two lakes are again connected by a short river them drain the snows of a wide ex of rocky field down able burns and streams and little trickles then for about two miles from the lower lake the blue snow water why Is snow water a greeny milky blued I 1 should like to kaow rushes headlong through a pine clad mountain gorab forming a series of splendid foaming rapids that in them selves are worth a long day s journey to see leaps over a great toss some feet in height where in the re suiting spray a perfect rainbow can always be seen every sunny day and then by means of rapid and pool for but a bare balf mile forms the bulk ot the salmon fishing water we have come out teova england to flog last ly Is another foaming rapid ol 01 a few hundred yards then so ne long estuary ashing pools and the sea taking the short extent of fishing water into con sider atlon the small amount of good lying tor salmon and the obviously restricted stretch of spawning beds for no salmon can get up aaro foss without wings the wonder Is that the river Is a salmon river at all yet a day on the aaro river Is worth a long journey to obtain the fish run heavy and play strong A 20 is a common bent and 40 are by no means uncommon it wa here that a mr kennedy killed his 68 not so many years ago and every aaro fisherman when he hooks a heavy fish hopes for something over 50 pounds treble gut Is a necessity and probably more lines have been broken and more salmon fishermen left or the time despondent on the banks of aaro than oi an other salm on river in the whole of more or less accessible scandinavia in this corn parison I 1 rule out rivers like the tana in the extreme north where salmon have been caught an lost like trout in numbers and like porpoises or size we arrived on aaro one fine sun shiny day we were glad to think the season promised well and it was not long before we had rods up and tackle out and were showing to the aaro fish some of the best creations in the way of artificial salmon flies that for rest had been able to supply the first afternoon two salmon 25 and 21 pounds respectively rewarded our et forts and we considered that a good start had been effected there were however no features out of the or binary in the play they gave split cane rods treble gut and the wiles ot a six degreed jock scott fly had brought them to dank in well under a minute to the pound and our ap petites were only whetted or more sport and larger fish near the head of the fish water Is a still deep pool formed inside the main current of the aher where fly fishing is a vain occupation there la no proper stream to carry a fly and moreover the waler is too deep tor the fish to rise to a fly one fine day from a rough platform made or the purpose I 1 dropped a prawn into this prawn pool as it Is felicitously named it was a prawn like a young lobster boiled a brilliant red shiny from the glycerine bottle and deftly fastened to a flight of hooks with red silk let no practical fisherman de apis the prawn it has tempted many a lordly salmon to its death and we were out to kill salmon it the aaro whales sternly decline the artificial div it were well to try them with a change of lure so my prawn was drogi ed into abe cefis and gradually progressed down the pool then came a rapid tug at the line and the next moment a tight line and bending rod signified the hooking of a salmon he eit heavy and tor a few moments took two or three short turns in the calm water then without a moment s warning the elsh ran out into the stream showed hia lordia bulk for a moment like a por poise near the urther bank and was off down the rapid flowing aaro like a flash come on belled anders my gaffer and bolted down the bank ot the river ready with gaff handle to clear the line from intervening rocks the reel screamed as nearly yards ot silk running line were taken off it in that first mad rush for over yards that salmon ran down the river with scarcely a pause taxing my best efforts to follow him down the rocky bank and get back aa best I 1 might some of the long length 0 line he had run out for the next ten minutes his ate hung in the balance once the line caught in a high rock and vas only just 1 eted in time by anders with the gaff handle then we came to a pool above the lower where a halt was absolutely feces sary once below this pool and no power on earth could have saved my tackle and brought the fish to bank for many minutes it was touch and go inch by inch however the line was recovered and the fish gradually brought up into calmer water and nearer to his fate then after a period of heart disturbing excitement bis great bulk was slowly drawn into shallower water and finally came the quick of the gaff a mighty splashing and a bright ab lay gasping on the grassy bank HENRY SETON KARR |