190 FISHING ON THE 



and use. Of all apologies for a fly, this is the clumsiest j it 

 is only a swan's or goose's feather tied round a large and 

 very coarse bait-hook, without the least pretence to art ; 

 any man who had never dressed a fly in his life would be 

 as successful in the attempt as the most finished performer.* 

 The rod and line are in perfect keeping with the fly ; a 

 bamboo-cane, or young hazel-tree, with ten or twelve yards 

 of oiled cord, and a length or two of double or triple gut 

 next the hook : no reel is used. 



The fish generally caught in this way are lythe and 

 seithe, although mackerel will rise freely also ; when 

 fishing for the former, good double gut may be strong 

 enough, but if large fish are expected, I should always 

 recommend triple. Seithe take best in the morning and 

 evening, and a slight breeze is rather an advantage : 

 although the fly is sometimes sunk a little with lead, it is 

 more often fished with at the top. You may begin at any 

 state of the tide, and row over all the sunk banks and 

 places where the fish frequent, at a slow rate, with three 

 or four rods placed regularly in the stern of the boat. 



* Worsted is occasionally used instead of the feather, and it is some- 

 times a killing way to have a different colour for each rod viz., white for 

 one, yellow for another, and red for a third. This last is best for mackerel ; 

 and in some states of the water and sky, both lythe and seithe, especially 

 the former, prefer the yellow to the white. It is a curious fact regarding 

 the seithe, that when it grows old it changes both its nature and appear- 

 ance ; the colour is nearly black instead of the rich green ; it grows to a 

 great size, and gains a formidable set of teeth. It is then called a stanlock, 

 or black salmon, and is quite as destructive to other fish as the conger-eel. 

 In this stage it is never known to rise to the fly, but it is occasionally taken 

 by the hand or long-line. 



