LOCH FISHING. 51 



of the water was engaged in gymnastic attempts to secure some of 

 the bees by leaping bodily out of the water. The constant rising of 

 the fish followed the swarm accurately across the loch, and only ceased 

 when it reached terra firma. Then all again was silence and solitude. 

 I certainly never tried afterwards to catch them with a solitary bee as 

 a lure, and I fear that it would have required a whole swarm of artificial 

 bees to arouse sufficiently the predatory instincts of these particular fish. 



There exists in Perthshire, on Ben Venue side, snugly ensconced 

 in a beautiful hollow below the lower tops, a lochan, or small loch, by 

 name Loch Tinkler — why so called this deponent knoweth not. Round 

 its heather-covered sides I have shot many a grouse, and enjoyed the 

 great pleasure of watching favourite setters and pointers — those delightful 

 companions of the now somewhat old-fashioned form of grouse shooting 

 — point and back, with unfailing accuracy. Hither I have not infrequently 

 resorted with my rod for an hour or so of fishing along its shores. 

 The loch is very irregular in shape, and has frequent heather-clad 

 promontories jutting out into its waters, which permit the angler to 

 cover the fish more effectually, and seldom have I gone unrewarded. 

 Of no great size or weight, a half-pounder being perhaps above the 

 average, the Loch Leven trout that tenant it attain wonderful condition 

 and brilliancy of colouring. They play well, and I should be more 

 than ungrateful were I not to record the pleasant hours I have spent 

 there. But, after all, a small loch such as this is, commanded as it is 

 for all practical purposes from the shore, hardly falls under the category 

 of loch fishing, a branch of angling which presupposes the use of a boat. 



Owing, no doubt, to my peculiar temperament, I fear that I am 

 not worthy of loch fishing proper. The thraldom of being confined for 

 long periods in a boat, the unvarying monotony of the cast, are apt to 

 pall upon me ; and sooner or later, or, to be strictly accurate, sooner 

 rather than later, I long to be ashore again, even though it be only 

 to fish up a small Highland burn. 



And perhaps I am not quite alone in this respect, for I note that 

 my friend who has given us those pleasant " Autumns in Argyleshire " 

 asserts (p. 182) that he would prefer "indifferent sport in a river or 

 burn to fishing the finest loch in the Highlands." So that if I err 

 I do so in the very best of company. 



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