178 



It is a curious fact tliat wlienever I liave gone out on a locli 

 with a man who knows little or nothing of fishing he 

 invariably has all the best of the luck. And so my friend, 

 on this occasion, had no sooner been reproved for his 

 boisterous hilarity than " whizz " ! went his salmon reel, 

 and a grand fish flung himself out of the water forty yards 

 astern of the boat. And now it was our turn to score off 

 our hitherto jubilant chum. He implored us to take the 

 rod and kill that fish, but we would have nothing to do 

 with it. " Keep your rod top up, and leave the Avinch 

 alone," was our first piece of advice, and presently our 

 duffer cooled down and did exactly as he was told, until at 

 last he brought his fish to gaff, and then sank, trembling 

 with excitement, into the stern sheets of the boat. It was 

 a grand thick fish of 19-^lbs., very short and deep for its 

 weight, and to say that my friend was proud of his 

 capture is to do less than justice to the facts. As a matter 

 of fact, that salmon marks an epoch in his life — some of his 

 cronies say it has been the ruin of him — but, at any rate, 

 he has been badly crazed on fishing ever since. 



Perhaps I ought to mention the fact that there is a 

 charge of £1 5s. per day for salmon fishing, or 30s. per day 

 for two persons occupying the same boat. Weekly tickets 

 for salmon, £5. As this is a district much affected by 

 holiday-seekers, other than anglers, and as the number of 

 boats are limited, the wandering fisherman would do well 

 to bespeak both bed and boat in advance. 



Above Killin, and running into the loch there, is the 

 River Dochart, which forms a connecting link between 

 Lochs Awe and Tay. 



