58 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER. 



cheering you with wit and wisdom, and admiring your 

 science and skill, and the gorgeous fish you are play- 

 ing, twenty fathoms off, with a strong and steady hand ; 

 your heart " high fluttering the while, like woman's 

 when she loves." 



Tackle for trolling should be dressed upon tried gimp. 

 Bait as you do with a minnow : use a strong rod, heavy 

 lead, and a long line of oiled cord, wound upon an easy 

 reel. Choose a sunny day, with a stiffish breeze, and 

 troll near, but not among the weediest parts of the loch. 

 Plant yourself at the boat stern, and get rowed gently 

 at the rate of three miles an hour, letting out from 

 twenty to thirty yards of line betwixt you and your 

 bait. Trout from six to nine pounds weight cause the 

 best sport when hooked : a larger one seldom leaps or 

 makes any violent exertion to escape ; he swims sul- 

 lenly, and at ease, regarding the angler with a sort of 

 sovereign contempt. You must row after him, and turn 

 him if you can before he gets among weeds ; never slack 

 your line for an instant, and look well about you. Land 

 as soon as you are able, and play him from the shore. 

 Your companion will assist you at the death. 



So much for the different kinds of bait fishing prac- 

 tised in Scotland. We esteem it folly to talk of the 

 less popular baits used by the virtuosi of frogs, grubs, 

 and leeches, water-rats, and mice ; all which animals 

 trout will devour. It might be asked, may fish not be 

 taken with any thing? They have been known to 

 swallow money, rings, and many other marvels ; never- 

 theless, they seem to have no pleasure in snapping at 

 the bait of the unskilful angler, and refuse to die under 

 his hands. 



