96 ECHOES OF SPORT 



all the west coast bays. It has everything : 

 splendid hills, rugged and bold in outline, 

 a foreground of feathery woods, a wide sweep 

 of sea, with Skye in the distance rising like a 

 " vaporous amethyst." The very name of 

 Gairloch brings sea fishing to mind. Last 

 year we fished for saithe on lovely September 

 evenings, either from the yacht or from the 

 dinghy. The rise usually came on between 

 six and eight, and the long bamboo rods, with 

 white, yellow, and red flies on each line, gaudy 

 as the dressed yardarm of a ship, would be 

 kept busy flipping fish into the boat, whilst 

 the deck of the yacht forrard was as slip- 

 pery and scaly as a fishmonger's slab with 

 fat saithe, wriggling mackerel, and codlings 

 flopping all over the place. 



This year, not being quite such novices to 

 the varied pleasures of yachting, we devoted 

 even more time to sea fishing. Unfortun- 

 ately when anchored in Poolewe, famous for 

 its whitings, such a fierce nor'east gale raged 

 for twenty-four hours that no fishing from 

 small boats was possible ; though we had 



