LOUGH DERG. 221 



to the right and the other to the left of its 

 course. 



Lake-fishing with two in a boat is, perhaps, 

 next to cross-line fishing, as severe a trial of 

 temper as any the gentle art affords. The 

 theory of it is easy enough, — the two lines 

 must not be in the air at the same moment ; 

 but in practice it is extremely difficult. A 

 bad cast is made, and the natural desire is to 

 cast again in order to improve it ; a fish rises 

 short, and the fisherman, having struck almost 

 involuntarily, circles his line for another 

 cast. These and twenty similar accidents are 

 perpetually occurring to tempt the fisherman 

 to break his time ; and the result of the two 

 lines flying together in the air is, that they 

 inevitably cross each other's course, and thus 

 roll up the flies into a tangle, which takes 

 from five to ten minutes to unravel. If a 

 man stands this, with the trout rising pretty 

 thick about him, the boat the while drifting 

 him out of their reach, and indulges in no 

 unseemly expressions, he may very safely 

 be pronounced duly qualified to stand any 

 trial that life can afford. A fisherman 

 should be very careful in the choice of his 

 boat-companion. 



