LOCH AWE 157 



to allow the fly to remain perfectly quiescent for 

 a few seconds, simply because a fly which is sunk 

 deeper and drawn upwards is more deadly. Why 

 should that be so? Probably because fish feed 

 more on flies which are rising up through the water 

 than on those which are floating on the surface. 

 The deadliness of that destructive machine known 

 as the otter, which drags along a series of sub- 

 merged flies, would alone point to the fact that it 

 is not detrimental to obtaining good sport on a 

 lake to move the flies through the water at a fairly 

 rapid pace. It is also a most noticeable fact, 

 in some lakes, that more trout can be caught by 

 trolling the flies behind the boat, than by casting. 

 This is, fortunately, by no means always the case ; 

 in fact, in many places, that mode of fishing gives 

 small results. But on a good many lochs, notably 

 on a certain loch in Sutherlandshire, which I have 

 fished, it is decidedly so. On this loch, many more 

 fish can be caught by slowly rowing the boat along, 

 with trailing flies, than by the most untiring casting. 

 And in casting, the deeper the flies are sunk, the 

 more likelihood is there of catching fish, for the 

 trout, when they do rise, seldom break the surface 

 of the water. 



