BLOW LINE FISHING. 233 



" Gracious goodness ! Whatever kind of fishing 

 do you call this, pray ? " 



" This is in general use upon the lochs frequented 

 by the May fly, and is sometimes very successful here. 

 The line consists of the finest possible substance, 

 of the very strongest textile procurable, viz., that of 

 pure raw China silk, which, though not perceptibly 

 thicker than the gut lash, is infinitely stronger. At 

 the extremity of this is a live fly, which, if you watch 

 very closely, you will see is made by the almost 

 invisible action of the tip, to gently frisk and flutter 

 in the most natural manner possible, upon the top 

 of the water, exactly like a lusty insect in the full 

 enjoyment of perfect liberty. This is a much more 

 scientific way of dibbing than the one recently 

 noticed. The gut is generally used three yards long, 

 and is as fine as it is possible to draw it. The hook 

 is small and is a cropped short shank ; this is usually 

 inserted between the wings, as in the other style of 

 daping. Occasionally two hooks are placed back to 

 back, in which case two flies are used, this more 

 particularly on cold windy days." 



" How about the wind ? I should imagine the 

 whole thing impracticable without wind." 



"A slight breeze is certainly essential to the 

 successful working of the method ; but, when too 

 strong, a small sized split shot, attached near the foot 

 line, acts admirably as ballast." 



" See yonder ! we have still another type of a 

 Drake fisherman. His method is more difficult to 

 practise, but it is more scientific, and is generally 



