JUNE 133 



the rings. If he does not run towards you, he makes 

 a spirited dash up or across the stream, and nothing 

 could stir the nerves more pleasantly than his conduct 

 so far. But supposing the angler to be man enough to 

 hold his own through this initial display, there is very 

 little more to follow. Provided the fish does not catch 

 sight of his foe, and plunge frantically into a bed of 

 weeds (trout will seldom weed themselves unless they 

 see the fisherman), he yields after the first rush with 

 little more spirit than a lubberly chub. A Scottish 

 trout, on the other hand, will fight to his last gasp, 

 leaping often from the water and running as strong 

 after a few seconds' repose as at the first rush. Nobody 

 with experience of northern and southern fish can have 

 the slightest hesitation in affirming that, were an angler 

 to begin operations on the shore of a loch where the 

 trout run a fair average, say from three-quarters of a 

 pound to three pounds, using the gossamer tackle which 

 is indispensable to successful dry-fly practice, probably 

 one fish in every three hooked would break him. 



This applies only to fishing off the shore, or wading, 

 when the effort of the fish is always to get into the 

 deep water. In fishing from a boat the odds are 

 greatly in favour of the fisherman, seeing that the fish 

 may be followed. Be it observed here that half the 

 excitement of loch fishing is lost in the usual practice 

 of casting from a boat. In almost every loch there are 

 points and bays which may be easily covered by one on 

 the shore or wading moderately deep. The labour is 

 greater, no doubt, but so is the sport when a good trout 



