218 SHY OF THE HOOK. 



Scotland, but Cross Angling in England, where it is 

 practised with the natural May-fly for catching trout. 

 In trolling for salmon, two men stand opposite to one 

 another on either side of the stream, each with a rod in 

 hand ; their lines are joined together, and from the bow 

 which this junction creates about half-a-dozen flies are 

 suspended vertically. Of course there can be no casting 

 of the line ; but the flies are hung in the stream, and 

 passed over it, the fishermen trailing them, and acting in 

 concert ; thus, by means of the number of flies, and the 

 saving of time by not having the line to throw, a great 

 quantity of water is gone over in a short space of time. 

 But this sweeping method has its drawbacks, and very 

 serious ones they are. Out of the number of fish that 

 offer, very few are taken ; many get only a touch of 

 tlie hook, and escape, and are thus entirely lost to the 

 proprietor of the part of the river where this occurs ; 

 for, generally speaking, fish so alarmed quit the water 

 the same night, and travel upwards. I remember a 

 singular instance of this occurred to me in the Pavilion- 

 water. 



The river was very low and clear at the time ; so 

 much so, that it was in good order for sunning, and 

 therefore in no state for fish to travel in. I chanced, 

 however, to hook a salmon with a fly, which, after 

 being played a little, got off" the hook : there was a cairn 

 just above the spot where this occurred, and I told 

 my fisherman to set the net belonging to it that night ; 

 he did so with a very bad grace, assuring me that it 

 Avas perfectly useless ; or, as he was pleased to express 

 himself, " just perfect nonsense." Nevertheless the fish. 



