THE GALA HERIOT-WATEB. 133 



the Gala itself to be reached by following it down, 

 anglers are usually too eager to begin, to think of 

 walking three or four miles to the best part of Heriot- 

 water. It is, however, heavily fished for a mile or two 

 above its junction with the Gala, where its character 

 is precisely similar to that of the main river, being full 

 of small trout that are easily taken after a flood, and 

 that require considerable skill to entice them when the 

 water is clear. Perhaps the best arrangement for a 

 day's fishing here is for the angler to miss the first two 

 miles of the Heriot (by following the road from the 

 station, he comes upon it at Heriot Kirk, more than a 

 mile from the junction with the Little Gala), and then 

 to fish up to nearly its source with fly, worm, or creeper, 

 and back again with minnow. Little Gala presents 

 little temptation to the angler. There is a good inn 

 at Hangingshaw, near the Heriot station. 



Unless fishing downward with minnow, the angler 

 who wants to fish the upper part of the Gala should 

 go to Fountainhall station, and fish up to Heriot. This 

 is an admirable piece of water, there being about three 

 miles of the Gala between these points, and Heriot- 

 water may be followed as far as time permits. While 

 it consists chiefly of streams, there are also whirling 

 pools where large trout harbour, and where fishing 

 may be practised pretty successfully early in spring. 

 The Armet enters the Gala above Fountairihall, a 

 stream not much worth fishing, save in a flood. There 

 is an inn also, we believe, at Fountainhall. 



The next stretch of water, between Fountainhall 

 and Stow, is more rapid, having indeed a constant trot 

 about it that adapts it beautifully for worm-fishing, 



