120 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 



hand, who knew every pool and stream, could stir 

 a fin, or be persuaded to attempt a trial. 



My friend writes thus : " In these small waters, 

 or tributary streams which run into the large rivers, 

 you may fish with great success with what is com- 

 monly called a sea-trout hook. In several small 

 salmon waters in Argyleshire, and other island 

 streams in the west, I have fished successfully with 

 hooks of the above size, when I could not stir a fin 

 with a common sized salmon hook. And it may 

 not be generally known, that in these smaller waters, 

 salmon, grilse, and sea trout, will take the fly greedily 

 when the water is in such a state of foulness, that 

 those who have only been accustomed to the Tweed, 

 Tay, &c., would suppose it the next thing to mad- 

 ness to attempt trying a fly of any kind.' 5 I may 

 remark here, that if my friend had thought of ob- 

 serving carefully, he must have found this would 

 not happen in the swell, but in the fall of such 

 flooded streams, when these fish, like natives in an 

 inundated district, were thrown out of their usual 

 spots of habitation, and were still moving about in 

 an unsettled and shifting manner. In this way, 

 salmon occasionally take the fly in large, though 

 more particularly in smaller streams ; as the sand 

 and mud are gradually subsiding, the fish driven into 



