156 ANGLING & ART IN SCOTLAND 



taking the fly on his downward course ; in which 

 case several seconds should be allowed before striking 

 — by no means an easy thing to remember. 



The skilful angler, too, may frequently succeed 

 in tempting a trout, when taking the natural fly, 

 to rise to the artificial, by dexterously and accurately 

 dropping his fly into the ring caused by the rising 

 fish, even though the surrounding water be as 

 smooth as a sheet of glass. Nowadays, when trout 

 are so highly educated, I believe that fishing with 

 very fine tackle, and flies placed on the cast as 

 far apart as possible, greatly increases the chances 

 of success. 



It has been said that it is not good to drag 

 your flies through the water ; and in river fishing 

 there is no doubt that it is a fatal thing to do ; 

 but in a river there is a current which carries the 

 fly for a considerable distance — farther, in fact, 

 than if you were to drag it towards you — causing 

 it, thus, to pass over many trout ; besides which, 

 it would be quite opposite to the natural order of 

 things for a fly to swim strongly across, or against 

 a current. But in a loch, if no motion is given 

 to the fly, it simply sinks in one spot, and so loses 

 the chance of covering much water. It is better 



