326 THE MOOR AND THE LOCH. 



He is quite willing to defer to the opinion, albeit dogmati- 

 cally asserted, that a good yellow trout requires the same skill 

 to capture as a twenty-pound salmon, and affords quite as 

 much sport. Of course he is not careful to make proselytes 

 who might turn into competitors, to jostle him on a favourite 

 loch or river. 



Trouting is, however, only the germ of salmon - angling. 

 The best trouters, whenever they have opportunity, take to 

 the salmon, and only a sparse sprinkling even of them attain 

 to eminence at large fish. With a small rod and fly I have 

 known dozens of excellent anglers, some even mere lads, who 

 were pretty expert ; but a true salmon-fisher is rare. It is 

 pleasant to witness the enthusiasm of a trouting devotee, firmly 

 intrenched in the conviction that his own is the most scientific 

 department of the art. Let him be advised, however, to get 

 out of this nursery fishing, to be a salmon-angler if he can, 

 and he will be the first to acknowledge its vast superiority 

 over yellow trout, in practice, science, and sport. I never yet 

 met with a finished salmon-angler who had not been an adept 

 at trout, although I have known many excellent trouters who 

 never could get beyond second or third rate salmon-fishers. 



It is only in a stream of considerable bounds that the 

 eminent angler can fully display his power. Those brawling 

 brooks where salmon and grilse only ascend during floods, and 

 which can be commanded by a grilse-rod, are too much akin 

 to trouting to suit his taste. Such being, I will venture to 

 say, the feeling of all our leading salmon-anglers, it follows 

 that to command much water is a primary requisite. To give 

 more power in this respect, I have for many years adopted the 

 plan of what is called spinning the line. This consists in 

 slowly pulling it through the rings with the left hand, at the 

 same time you are playing the hook on 'the water. The advan- 

 tages consist, first, in the more enticing movements of the fly; 

 next, in the greater command you have of the tackle, should 

 a fish rise ; lastly, by enabling you to take fuller and freer 



