74 LOCH SALMON-FISHING. 



are discovered, they should be noted by marks 

 from different positions opposite to or crossing- 

 each other. A decayed stump of a tree exactly 

 opposite a shepherd's hut, making a triangle with 

 a rock or the end of a point, may be the only 

 available beacons to guide you to a first-rate mid- 

 loch cast. For two years I had the right to one 

 side of Loch Baa, and by these simple means, 

 before the first season was half over, knew all the 

 established casts fully as well as the fishing guides, 

 and found out some more they had no idea of. 



Perfect confidence in this local knowledge is 

 the foundation of success in lochs ; and when the 

 fisher fully possesses it, and not till then, will he 

 perceive how many blunders he can prevent his 

 boatman from committing. For instance, effec- 

 tually to fish the feeding-grounds with the least 

 risk of scaring them, it is absolutely necessary to 

 know the exact spots where the salmon lie. When 

 the feeding-ground has a sheer descent from shallow 

 to deep water, this may be shrewdly guessed ; but 

 when the deep is reached gradually, a rise in the 

 loch, or even a change of wind, may alter the seats 

 of salmon a considerable way either side. As the 



