92 Fly Fishing for Sea Trout. 



trout, when they have entered the lochs, take 

 the fly much in the same manner as the common 

 trout. Instead of working the fly with the jerking 

 motion in the river, you must draw it rather rapidly 

 along the water, just below the surface, and strike 

 very quickly at a rise. Two flies are generally 

 employed, and almost every loch has its peculiar 

 flies — (I am writing of the west coast of Scotland 

 more particularly.) For instance, in Loch Ailt, one 

 of the best sea trout lochs on that coast, large flies 

 are always used, and the fish will not take the 

 smaller sea trout flies. Again, in Loch Arianus, 

 smaller flies alone will take, either Black or Brown 

 Palmers, or small Harriets, or a small fly with grey 

 mallard wings and green mohair body, but the 

 Palmers are always killing. Mr. Herbert Spencer, 

 who is a most ardent and excellent fly fisher, has 

 his Palmers dressed so that the hackle is reversed, 

 and I must say they are very deadly in this loch, 

 but I have tried them elsewhere, without success. 



Here is an account of a day's sport on one of 

 these lochs on the west coast : — 



"We stroll up the river — she is very small. We 

 take an occasional cast in the pools in hopes that 

 an unsophisticated salmon might be induced to 

 take our fly. The wind is south-west and breezy. 

 The gillies have pushed on to the loch to get the 

 boat ready, and taken our guns for the chance of a 



