CHAP. vi. Spinning from a Boat. 109 



prefer. In the lakes in Scotland it is usual to fish thus with two rods, 

 one out of each side of the stem, and, the depth being known, to tie 

 a little piece of bright coloured silk round your running line at the 

 required distance from the end, generally, if I remember rightly, 

 about 30 yards, so that when you see the little bit of silk pass out 

 of the ring at your rod tip you may know how much line you have 

 payed out. Whether you prefer to let out 30, 50, or more yards 

 must depend much on the depth of the pool and the weight of your 

 bait. If you have only one rod you can work it slowly across and 

 across the stem if you like, but always with a taut line, and giving 

 time after each crossing for the bait to swing round; this will cover 

 more water than simply trailing. If you are trailing two lines the 

 second one must be rapidly reeled up by an attendant the moment 

 you have a fish on No. i or you will get into difficulties. 



Use dead bait, spoon or phantom, which you prefer. I have told 

 you which I prefer, and that a dead bait need not be spun so rapidly 

 as a spoon or phantom. 



Though I say fish deep, still do not be too keen about getting your 

 bait very close to the bottom, for many more fish will see it if it is well 

 off the bottom. Bear in mind that a fish can see an object moving 

 across a light background much better than one against a dark back- 

 ground, can see an object between it and the light which is above it 

 better than one between it and the dark bank on the side of it, and 

 that above it, it can, within certain limits (page 99, supra), see it the 

 further the higher it is. For instance (see Francis Francis' " Book on 

 Angling"), an object at A ? 

 which is twice as far from 

 the bottom as B, will be 

 seen over the whole base 

 C D, which is twice as big 

 as the base E F ; in other 

 words, your bait at A will 

 be seen by a Mahseer lying 

 at C, which would never see it if it was spun 2 feet lower at B. On this 

 theory you may say a fish will see further if you spin on the surface. 

 But, on the other hand, we do not know how far a fish can see laterally, 

 or at any angle out of the perpendicular under water, nor how far from 

 the bottom a large Mahseer may feel inclined to come up after a bait 



