ioo AN ANGLER'S RAMBLES 



Though by ruthless iron gall'd, 

 Still he rears his cruel head 



Uncomplaining, 



Death disdaining 

 See him as a trophy led ! 



In my pedestrian tour in 1841, on leaving Loch Tummel, I 

 fished up the river to Kinloch-Rannoch. The weather being calm 

 and sunny, the sport was indifferent. Had I provided myself 

 with worms, and been an adept at that time in the use of them, 

 I should probably have been more successful. On the same 

 stretch of river, my brother, Captain Stoddart, some ten or twelve 

 years after, filled a large creel by means of this bait. From 

 Kinloch-Rannoch, on the following day, I proceeded towards 

 the head of the lake, which is nearly twelve miles in length. 

 The weather was still inauspicious for fly-fishing. I managed, 

 however, to eke out of the most inviting bays a pretty satisfac- 

 tory take, numbering nearly three dozens, none of which ex- 

 ceeded a pound in weight. With a specimen of the ferox, so 

 abundant -in Loch Rannoch, and as a captor of which that 

 expert troller, Major Cheape, stood unrivalled, I had no oppor- 

 tunity afforded me of falling in. From forty to fifty of these 

 monster trout, weighing from four up to sixteen pounds, have 

 been taken by the Major in the course of a season. The form 

 of tackle which he employs is extremely simple in its construc- 

 tion, and wonderfully efficient. I have one by me which came, 

 through the hands of a friend, from the direct source. It con- 

 sists of three hooks tied on triple gut, two of which, size No. 7 

 on Philip's scale of measurement, are set in the form of the 

 ordinary gorge-hook used for pike, at the head ; and below them, 

 the point of its shank reaching up to their bend, is fastened the 

 remaining one, No. 4. 



On arriving at the head of Loch Rannoch, I obtained night 



