Il6 WILD NATURE IN STRATHEARN. 



and is therefore not suitable for bait-fishing. 



Shoals of small Perch, weighing about two 

 ounces, may be seen up and down the river. 

 Boys have no difficulty in securing a catch, 

 armed with such rudimentary tackle as a bent 

 pin attached to a bit of cord tied to the end 

 of a stick. The fish get no time to gorge the 

 bait, and there is no playing a hooked one. 

 When a nibble is felt whish ! and out he 

 comes, sometimes landing on terra firma a dozen 

 of yards behind the youthful angler as the pin 

 unbends and allows the fish to slide off. Fishing 

 in this rude fashion, many of the fish are merely 

 pricked, then they become shy, and move away 

 from the spot, or treat the lure with contempt. 



Fishing for Perch one afternoon, along with 

 my wife, and casting far into the pool, I got 

 one of fair size, and then they stopped taking. 

 In lifting out the bait, a large Pike came after 

 my coloured float, and, if I had allowed him, 

 would probably have seized it. Catching a Par 

 with fly, I soon had him on pike tackle ; but 



