ROD AND FLIES FOR LOCH-FISHING. 2OI 



never yet got a hank of gut which we considered 

 too fine for dressing loch-flies on. In some lochs 

 we have caught more trout than anglers accus- 

 tomed to fish them every day, simply because we 

 used fine gut, and they used it very thick and 

 white. 



The rod for fly-fishing from a boat need not be 

 longer than thirteen or fourteen feet, as that is long 

 enough to keep the angler out of sight, and a very 

 long rod is cumbrous to manage. In angling from 

 the bank, a rod of two feet longer might be advis- 

 able, in order to reach the places where the trout 

 lie. The reel should be large enough to contain 

 fifty or sixty yards of line ; for if you get a large 

 fish, you must exhaust it by length of line, since 

 you cannot follow it as on a river. But there is 

 no occasion to have either the line or the triple-gut 

 casting-line thicker than what is used for ordinary 

 trouting purposes. A landing net is an almost in- 

 dispensable article when fishing from a boat, and 

 every angler should be provided with one. 



The cast of flies should be made up in the usual 

 manner, but as the flies are larger, the distance 

 between them should be increased to about three 

 feet. As to the number of flies to be used at a 

 time, the angler may with safety use as many as 

 he can manage properly ; but we think that in 

 fishing from a boat four will generally be found 

 sufficient, as if there is a great number it is ex- 

 ceedingly difficult to prevent them from hanking 



