FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 

 along, one on either bank. We had not gone far before there was a plunge 

 and a splash, the line tightened for a moment, and then fell loose. A large 

 fish had broken the connexion between us and escaped. There was no 

 time to reel up, so to save fouling the bottom, I ran backwards through 

 the heather, and presently went heels over head into a peat hag. It 

 would have been a very diverting spectacle for a third person had 

 there been one to witness it. There was none; but I felt at the time that 

 the convulsion of laughter which shook my companion betrayed a very 

 heartless want of sympathy. We repaired damages, and managed to 

 expiscate three or four trout from this weird little mere, of from half a 

 pound to a pound in weight, very well shaped and of a peculiar tench -like 

 olive colour. 



This has turned into a very discursive chapter; it is full time to pay 

 attention to the matter that ought to be in hand. Loch fishing has this in 

 common with dry-fly fishing, that, in lakes that contain trout of consider- 

 able size — say a minimum average of 12 oz. — ^it is well-nigh useless fish- 

 ing except when fly is on the water. At other times casting at large in the 

 likeliest places, that is, where the water is not more than three or four 

 feet deep, one may get an odd trout here and there; but it is monotonous 

 work and it is better not to exhaust the energy of the boatman before 

 fish begin to show on the surface. 



My companion in the cross -lining adventure was one of a party of three 

 fishers who on a summer day made an expedition to Loch Skerrow, 

 which contains some very fine trout, in the hill district of Galloway. 

 Each of them put half -a -crown into a sweepstakes to be won by him who 

 had the largest trout by luncheon-time. It turned out a " dour " day; there 

 was no natural fly on the water; my friend, being familiar with the symp- 

 toms, knew that it would be but an outside chance that brought anything 

 up to the artificial, so he abandoned the loch, wandered down the small 

 burn running out of it, and caught one troutlet weighing about an ounce and 

 a half. His diagnosis of the conditions proved accurate. He produced his 

 prey at luncheon time and won the sweep ! 



When the regular rise is not on, casting from the shore is more likely 

 to be successful than from a boat, for there are often a few trout scouting 

 for insects blown off the land. Thus I have sometimes caused trout to show 

 themselves by shaking bushes by the waterside, and afterwards cast 

 over them and caught them. For the same reason, good sport may often 

 be had in a strong wind, perhaps too strong for boatwork, among trout 

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