70 LOCH SALMON -FISHING. 



noble fish he is trying for, also the various moods 

 of water, sky, air, time of day, &c., when the mon- 

 ster may be most successfully lured, the crown- 

 ing requisite, patience, always conies of its own 

 accord. 



In ordinary rivers the most expert angler well 

 knows that he must not expect many rises of big 

 fish ; he therefore uses all his skill and experience 

 to hook those he does move. This attention con- 

 stantly increases his stock of knowledge, until he 

 feels certain he can hook them if they can be 

 hooked. 



"Where the rises are more numerous, there is not 

 the same pains taken to profit by them ; and this 

 natural consequence partly explains what I have 

 also noticed in shooting viz., that a man who has 

 lived among preserves, far from being so good a 

 sportsman, is frequently not even to be compared 

 as a steady shot with another whose whole practice 

 is over wild unenclosed lands. The one blazes 

 thoughtlessly away, committing time after time 

 the same errors; while the other notes every miss, 

 and endeavours to correct it next opportunity. 

 There is also no doubt that both the angler and 



