94 AN ANGLER'S RAMBLES 



bend No. 9, I bait with a small well-cleaned red worm. A lead 

 is not required, but a float will be found useful. A slip, about 

 the size of a gun-wad, taken from a common bottle-cork, is what 

 I generally make use of for this purpose. This I cut half-way 

 across and connect with my casting-line, at a distance from the 

 hook usually of about three feet, but varied by circumstances, 

 such as the depth of the hole, temperature of the day, etc. The 

 most suitable rod is one which commands a good stretch of 

 water, and is at the same time both light and stiffish. With such 

 a weapon, rigged out as described, I cautiously approach the 

 pond or lakelet reported to contain the finny veterans, and drop 

 my worm noiselessly near this or ihat tuft of reeds or floating 

 plants, among the roots of which it strikes me a large trout may 

 have ensconced itself. After allowing the worm to rest a minute 

 or two (in river dibbling without a float, a single second will 

 suffice to test the humour of the fish), no telegram from below 

 having been received, I warily shift ground, and should a surface- 

 feeding trout catch my eye, remove the slip of cork, and gently 

 pitch out the bait towards it. Following this practice I took 

 three trout one forenoon from the bog or marl -pit above Pit- 

 lochrie. Of these, the heaviest was a two-pounder, the others 

 scarcely a pound each. I felt, however, no great disappointment 

 on the score of their size, and in other respects they exceeded 

 my expectations. It required some little management to exhaust 

 them, on account of the weeds, but round fresh gut, properly 

 knotted, and soaked preparatory to its being used, will, when the 

 elastic powers of the rod are put into proper play in conjunction 

 with it, master more opposition than it gets credit for. 



Reverting to my tour in 1831. I fished up the Tummel on 

 the 18th of July, to the loch bearing the same name. The 

 scenery on that portion of the river amply makes amends for the 

 rather indifferent sport yielded by it. There are plenty of trout, 

 but in point of size and general appearance they bear no propor- 



