FOOD OF FISH AND ITS PKODUCTION. 97 



bright and well coloured. These varieties, I have 

 every reason to believe, are caused partly by a differ- 

 ence of water, produced by the absence or presence of 

 certain plants, these of course giving a difference of 

 food. To exemplify this : I remember some years 

 since, while fishing in a wild part of Donegal, near 

 the little village of Ardara, coming upon a cluster of 

 small lakes. The trout in some of these lakes were 



a 



small, bright, and very plentiful; in others, they 

 were of a good size, but not handsome. But in one 

 of the lakes, a small one — a mere pool, of perhaps a 

 couple or three acres in extent — my attendant informed 

 me that the trout, though of a dark colour, owing to 

 the darkness and depth of the water, were large and 

 well shaped, often running up to five and six, and 

 even seven or eight pounds' weight. But the lake was 

 what is termed among anglers "a sulky lake/' that 

 is, the fish very rarely rose well at the fly, and 

 probably it might be fished a dozen times without 

 producing a single fish, though there were times and 

 days, if the angler chanced to hit upon them, when 

 very good fishing might be had, and when the lake 

 appeared alive with fish. I fished the pool, however, 

 and had the good fortune, by sinking the fly, to take 

 one of the trout, a strong well-shaped fish, though 

 somewhat dark in colour, and of two pounds' weight. 



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