FL Y-FISHING B Y NIGHTLIGHT. 191 



One essential precaution remains to be noticed. 

 When the boat is being rowed up for another fall, it 

 should not pass over the ground intended to be fished 

 by casting only. It is obvious that by such a mistake 

 the fish would be scared from their feeding haunts. 

 From what has been stated, it may be inferred that 

 this kind of angling is entirely different from that 

 practised on the Tay in salmon-fishing from a boat. 



Though large trout will rise to flies freely at 

 night in trolling, night angling in the Irish lakes 

 was considered, by those who practised it, a work 

 purely of casting, and in this indeed consisted one of 

 its chief charms. As in all other kinds of fly-fishing, 

 a certain amount of wind is advantageous ; it should 

 not however be inconveniently high. A light breeze 

 will best fulfil the requirements of the occasion. An 

 overcast sky has its uses, not on account of diminish- 

 ing the quantity of light, but for intercepting shadows, 

 which, if the moon " ruled the night," would be trouble- 

 some accessories. The low muttering of distant 

 thunder and vivid flashes of lightning, which often 

 prevail at this season, though adding much to the 

 beauty and solemnity of lake scenery at night, are 

 inauspicious omens. I have observed that fish, 

 though some of the family are expert electricians, are 

 not in general partial to electricity. It seems neither 

 to sharpen their appetites, nor to enliven their move- 

 ments. As it does not therefore add to the chances 



