16 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS. [CHAP. i. 



remote lake, where you seldom fish, the actual sport which it 

 affords falls far short of rod fishing. 



I have tried it for pike, but did not find it answer, as the fish 

 were constantly struck without being hooked in consequence 

 of their requiring some time to gorge their prey. The angling 

 in some of the best trout loehs is completely spoilt by the intro- 

 duction of these instruments of destruction. Every shepherd's 

 boy or idle fellow can make one, and carry it about with him; 

 and in lakes where this kind of fishing is prohibited, he has 

 nothing to do, if he sees a keeper or watcher in the distance, but 

 to wrap up the whole thing in his plaid, and walk away with it. 

 There are but few Highland lochs in which a net can be drawn 

 with good effect, owing to the unevenness of the bottom, and the 

 risk of getting your tackle entangled and broken by roots and re- 

 mains of trees, which always abound in these waters the 

 remnants of forests of an age gone by. Their great depth too 

 is another obstacle to net fishing, excepting here and there, 

 where a sandy bay or tolerably smooth bottom can be found. 

 To these places the trout always resort in the evenings, in order 

 to feed on the insects and smaller fish that frequent the small 

 stones. 



In lochs containing pike, a hang-net, as it is called, placed 

 across deep angles of the water or along the edge of weeds, is 

 sure to catch them ; this fish always struggling and endeavour- 

 ing to press forward as soon as lie feels the net, whereas the 

 trout in these clear waters always escape the danger by turning 

 back as soon as they touch the meshes. 



The Highland shepherds kill numbers of the spawning trout 

 in the autumn, in every little stream and rill, however small, 

 which feeds the lake. At this time of the year the trout are 

 seized with an irresistible inclination for ascending any running 

 stream that they can find ; and I have seen large trout of several 

 pounds' weight taken out of holes in very small runs of water, to 

 get into which they must have made their way for considerable 

 distances up a channel where the water could not nearly cover 

 them. Still, as long as a trout can keep his head against the 

 stream, so long will he endeavour to work his way up. Num- 

 bers of fish, and always the largest, fall a prey not only to men, 



