U7 



several iu excess of 21b. liaving already been takcii. There 

 are some monster trout in the lake, and I saw a magnificent 

 rise of these big fellows, one Sunday evening, when the 

 water Avas like a sheet of plate glass, and if there were not 

 fish amono-st them rano-in<i' from 41b. to 81b. then I am no 

 fisherman, and don't know a trout when I see one. These 

 big fellows were rising in mid-lake, Avith 70ft. of water 

 under them, and there was not a breath of air out of the 

 heavens to ruffle the glassy surface of the water. It is 

 always thus ; man never is but always to be blest, and there 

 never was, during my stay, such another calm evening and 

 mad rise as occurred on that blessed Sabbath eve. These 

 big fish never have been tried for by a dry fly man, who 

 understands the science, but there is a big record Avaiting 

 for the lucky fellow who happens to catch them in tune. 

 It is true that men homeward bound in the gloaming have 

 trailed their flies behind their boats, and been smashed 

 before they realised what they had got on; it is equally 

 true that one man when trailing had his rod dragged bodily 

 out of the boat, by one of these " big 'uns," and never 

 recovered it ! My OAvn idea is that the proper way to fish 

 for them is with a dry fly, in the last hour of daylight, and 

 there is no better place to try the experiment than in the 

 deep water immediately in front of the hotel. But the 

 locality must depend upon the rise; it is no use to cast a 

 dry fly, and let it float, in the hope of attracting a big trout 

 to the surface. My OAvn impression is that these large trout 

 are the aboriginal inmates of the old natural lake, which 

 existed before the valley was flooded ; and as there is a local 

 record of an 81b. trout, killed by a parson, in the original 

 TyrnAvs', my theory is based upon more than mere specula- 

 tion. Be that as it may, the big fish are there, and I have 

 seen them rise with a boil like a salmon, sending out rings 

 that circled out to 20ft. wide : showing broad backs that 

 haunted you all night, and made you dream of fights AA^th 

 monsters of the deep. To a man satiated with the slaughter 

 of a !May-fly season just ended, baskets ranging from 121b. 

 to 151b. weight, were of far less attraction to me than the pre- 

 sence of those great lazy fellows in mid-lake ; but the 



