LONE LOCH WEE 83 



loch on the borders of Ross-shire. I remember 

 an old Colonel, who years ago used to fish in 

 Glenshiel, who called a yellow trout " a nasty black 

 thing," that he would hardly care to take off the 

 hook. Many salmon fishers, I think, feel this kind 

 of contempt for the brown trout, but, in my opinion, 

 it is far more beautiful than the sea trout. A fresh 

 run sea trout is always more or less the same in 

 appearance — very pretty, no doubt, with its blue 

 and silver sheen ; but after being for some time 

 in the fresh water it goes dark, and loses much 

 of its beauty. But amongst yellow trout you get 

 an infinite variety of colouring and marking ; the 

 prismatic colours being perfectly blended with the 

 rich brown or purple spots. In deep water, or in 

 lochs or rivers where a dark bottom obtains, you 

 may get black, ugly trout, though that is the 

 exception : but generally speaking, in a loch, those 

 caught in the proximity of a sandbank are the most 

 beautiful in appearance. 



There are other two lochs within a mile of 

 Loch Wee ; Loch Skae, lying farther up the moor 

 towards the east — a very pretty little sheet of water, 

 holding plenty of trout running three to the pound, 

 the quality of which, however, is not of the same 



