146 ENGLISH LAKE DISTRICT FISHERIES 



less ; if, on the other hand, it has pebbly marges, 

 then the fish are bright and silvery and as tooth- 

 some as the best river trout. Owing to their alti- 

 tude, the fish in the tarns are somewhat late in 

 coming into condition, and usually it is the end of 

 June before they are at their best, at which time a 

 basket of fifty trout taken from a mountain tarn 

 makes a pleasing picture. 



In these mountain solitudes, so long as there is 

 a ripple, the angler is less dependent on the 

 weather than in other kinds of fishing. With 

 appropriate flies (dressed on not too large hooks) 

 he can generally make a basket, but there are 

 several conditions which should be borne in mind. 

 It will almost invariably be found that a tarn has 

 a deep side and a shallow one. The deep side is 

 that nearest the pass against which so many of the 

 tarns nestle the shallow one that which merges 

 away on the opposite shore. The trout mainly 

 resort to the latter, and those taken here will be 

 found to be brighter and in better condition than 

 the fish from the deeper and blacker water. 



Few of the tarns have boats upon them, although 

 a boat is always a great convenience. As in lake 

 fishing, the fish haunt the spots where the shore 

 shelves into deeper water, and these are the places 

 it is impracticable to fish from the bank. Most 

 of the tarns, however, must be fished from the 

 shore. 



As to flies, it is difficult to speak precisely. 

 Here, at all events, fancy flies are useless ; nor are 

 the delicate duns and spinners much better. As 

 a rule small dark flies prove most effective, 

 and these should be dressed upon No. 2, or, at 

 most, No. 3 hooks. March brown, orange wood- 



