88 AX ANGLER'S RAMBLES 



exhibited by the best of anglers, of giving way, in a matter of 

 judgment, to local prejudices and conceits regarding flies. My 

 casting-line had been made up, and such fly-hooks as it struck 

 me were very likely to suit the day and complexion of the water 

 attached. One of these happening to catch the eye of an Athol- 

 man, an employe of his Grace, I forget in what capacity, whose 

 piscatorial knowledge of the loch and its finny inhabitants was 

 reckoned tip-top, he expressed, in decided terms, his disapproval 

 of it, both as to colour and size, recommending very civilly a 

 trial of his own fail-me-never patterns. The flies he provided 

 were not new to me ; indeed, I had recommended them over and 

 over again as redoubted killers on Highland lochs in general ; 

 but I saw no reason why I should be guided on this occasion, 

 even by my own recommendations, linked with the fact that they 

 had been acted upon and received the credit they were entitled 

 to in other quarters. I therefore declined his offer ; nay, I did 

 more, Ire-arranged my fly-cast by substituting for the dropper 

 a duplicate of the denounced fabrication ; and as we had two 

 boats at command, and stout gillies to manage them, I suggested 

 that the flies locally approved of should be used in the hands of 

 the party upholding them, against those of my selection. This 

 suggestion having been acted on, the results, to the general sur- 

 prise, seeing that my rival was no novice in the art of fly-throw- 

 ing, and that we stood on a par in other respects, were, after 

 three or four hours' fishing, very decidedly in my favour. In 

 fact, against seventeen trout, varying in weight from a pound and 

 a half to half a pound, which formed the sum-total of my spoils, 

 only one was produced, and that a puny starveling, which had 

 risen at a venture in the wake of the boat, after the expiry of 

 feeding-time. 



The secret of my comparative success lay, I am convinced, in 

 adapting the colours of my selection to those which prevailed in 

 the sky and affected the ruffled surface of the lake. Had I been 



