296 DRY-FLY FISHING 



wonders, and the creel begins to bear witness to 

 the fact. 



Now with every sense alert we approach expect- 

 antly the most critical point, the entrance to the 

 river. There the wise, old, wary trout are gathered 

 together waiting for what the wind and the wave 

 and the current will bring, and there many of them 

 have in past days fallen to our fly. To-day there is 

 no exception to the rule, for the instant the tail-fly 

 alights it is seized, and a fine fish wildly leaps in a 

 vain endeavour to shake free the piercing hook. 

 We have some anxious moments before it is safely 

 in the boat, but then we see that it is the finest 

 trout of the day, a beauty in every respect. 



All too soon the day passes, and we seek the shore 

 again, there to arrange but first admire our thor- 

 oughly satisfactory basket of twenty-five lovely 

 trout. What more could anyone desire, a day in 

 the fresh, keen air amid the picturesque surround- 

 ings of Loch Dochart, a fair measure of sport, and a 

 dish of really handsome trout to distribute among 

 one's friends ? Surely that is enough to please and 

 satisfy anyone, and yet the results are mediocre and 

 serve only to indicate what great sport could be 

 obtained on a favourable day. 



Loch Dochart stands pre-eminently our first 

 favourite among lochs, and our reasons for putting 

 it in this high position are many and varied. It is 

 easily reached ; a blank day on it is unthinkable, 

 except when a terrific storm makes it impossible to 

 launch or manage a boat ; the trout are of excellent 

 quality, full of sport, numerous and of good average 

 size ; boats and capable men are usually if not always 

 available ; the loch itself is generally acknowledged 



