LOCHS AND RESERVOIRS 177 



of all, viz. the Badger Hackle; but if a bigger fly 

 endows him with greater confidence, he should by all 

 means obtain exactly what pleases him. At the 

 same time, we think he will not please the trout any 

 better. 



The remainder of the apparatus recommended 

 for the river, the treatment of the line, cast, and 

 flies suggested, will serve perfectly for the loch. 

 If the angler proposes to fish both wet-fly and dry-fly 

 according as the conditions inform, and, if he is 

 sensible, he will confine himself to neither the one 

 nor the other, he should provide himself with two 

 rods, reels, and lines, or at least with an extra reel 

 and line. The dressing that he puts on his dry-fly 

 line makes it unsatisfactory to some extent for 

 wet-fly fishing, because at times it is very necessary 

 to make the wet-flies sink deeply in order to reach 

 the trout prowling about the lower depths in search 

 of various subaqueous creatures. The floating agent 

 can be removed ; but frequently he will desire to 

 change from dry-fly to wet and back again, and he 

 will sometimes be annoyed at the loss of time 

 involved in attending to his line. 



The angler will observe that there is one great 

 point of difference between the loch and the river. 

 On a running stream he casts his fly as a rule at 

 least a short distance beyond his prospective victim 

 and allows it to float down, but on still water he 

 endeavours to place it right into the centre of the 

 rings formed by the rising trout, where he may 

 leave it for a considerable time. Then drag can 

 trouble the loch-fisher ; the shorter the length of 

 undressed gut or line, the longer will the fly float 

 naturally. As on the river so on the loch, wind 



M 



