A ngling in Burns. 183 



tating a scanty board, he is almost always in a 

 chronic state of hunger, and consequently not 

 inclined to be too fastidious in his tastes. The 

 larger burns, that run over a stony channel, and 

 have more open banks, may require a little more 

 caution, especially if the water be low and clear ; 

 but even in their case the " keen demands of appe- 

 tite " in the trout will be found to go far towards 

 meeting any lack of skill in the angler. Besides, 

 trout in burns are more unsophisticated than their 

 brethren of the rivers ; their comparative immunity 

 from disturbance renders them less wary, and so 

 they fall an easier prey. 



Several of the lures that obtain in rivers will 

 generally be found effective in burns, and their 

 efficiency is most marked after a flood. The arti- 

 ficial fly is then often very successful ; but the 

 favourite baits are worm and caddis. In well- 

 stocked burns a capital basket can almost invari- 

 ably be obtained with either, and this, too, when 

 the angler would often fail in the larger streams. 



As in rivers, so in burns, the best time for sport 

 is during the months of June and July, when the 

 water is clear and the weather warm and bright. 



O 



At this season, let the angler start at daybreak and 

 fish the burn up. And though, possibly more from 

 lack of imagination than of piscatorial power, his 

 tale of trout may not equal that of the Shepherd in 



