TROUT-FISHING 

 on the outlook for windfalls. One such chance is recorded in my fishing 

 book as having occurred on an April morning many years ago. There was 

 no boat on a small loch which I had walked a considerable distance to 

 fish; it was blowing so hard from the east that it was only possible to 

 cast from one side of the loch; but in a very short time I landed ten trout 

 in perfect condition weighing 10| lb.* 



Summer floods give a chance of sport which should not be neglected, 

 especially in lakes where trout are large and scarce owing to the presence 

 of pike. When the hill burns come tumbling down in spate and the clear 

 water of the lake is stained for some distance with the peaty discharge, 

 trout are attracted to the burn-mouths by the food brought down to them 

 and rise well to the fly. 



There is a wide difference between the seasons at which trout arrive 

 at good condition in different lakes. I own a small loch in which the trout 

 are in prime order before the end of March, whereas in another and larger 

 one in the same parish they are not fit to take till the month of May. No 

 doubt this depends upon the greater and less abundance of larval, crus- 

 tacean and moUuscan food. 



Early in the season lake -trout are to be sought with the fly in shallow 

 water, from four to five feet deep, in bays and round promontories or 

 islands, for it is in such places that they chiefly resort in search of food; 

 but as the water becomes warmer and the flies more abundant fish may 

 be seen rising at any distance from the shore. In fishing a loch to which 

 he is a stranger, the angler will naturally rely upon local fishermen for 

 guidance as to the likeliest beats. In large lakes trout may be of very 

 different size and quality in some parts from what are to be found in 

 others. If the wind is pretty rough, long lines flecked with foam will form 

 on the surface; it is a good practice to cast over one of these, for it is in 

 them that the trout have learnt to look for floating fare. 



The local expert is sure to prescribe certain patterns of flies as indis- 

 pensable to success, others as prohibitive thereof. You will lose nothing 

 by following his advice (except perhaps in the matter of size), but at the 

 same time you will probably gain nothing, except his good humour. In 

 no lake or pond that I have ever fished have I been able to detect any need 

 for more than half a dozen patterns; indeed I should be quite prepared 



"Memory is a treacherous minx, and no fisherman should rely upon her for his facts. Had I done so in this instance 

 I should have written 16 trout, weighing 16i lb.; indeed, I was on the point of doing so; but on turning up the record 

 I found the numbers as given above. 



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