386 THE MOOR AND THE LOCH. 



Those who prefer the phantom minnow or parr to natural 

 bait, will find the brown phantom best for Loch Layghal, 

 though, for Loch Shin, the green is most deadly. For my 

 own part, I prefer the natural bait to either. A phantom 

 enthusiast assured me that in his hand the apparition had 

 quite beat the natural bait, until he fastened false gills to the 

 latter, when they were about equal. This showed pretty well 

 that the real bait had no fair play until the gills were stuck 

 on. Of course, if any one is not fisherman enough to make 

 the natural bait spin true without gills, the phantom must 

 then beat it. We had plenty phantom parrs, but when the 

 time of trial came, both of us declined the honour of pre- 

 cedence, as each was persuaded that the substance was better 

 than the shadow. 



The vast number of huge salmon that were captured in 

 the spring of 1877 in Loch Tay with the phantom parr, has 

 been unrivalled in the annals of Scotch fishing sport. The 

 crests, however, of the successful fishermen were considerably 

 lowered by the well-known fact, that comparatively little skill 

 is necessary to enable any average angler to share to the full 

 in these piscatorial triumphs. He has only to go down to the 

 loch armed with three-ply casting-lines, tested reel-lines 120 

 yards long, a good assortment of phantom parrs, and very 

 strong trolling-rods. All the Loch Tay boatmen are quite 

 equal to their department, and will do him every justice and 

 more ! They select his phantoms, warn him how much pirn- 

 line to let out behind the coble, and the depth to which each 

 phantom ought to be sunk. Lastly, they will take him over 

 all the likely water the best of it over and over again. When 

 a fish strikes, they watch the bend of the rod and humour 

 every dodge of the struggling monster. If it rushes away 

 they will follow it ; if it sneaks towards the boat, they will 

 foil the ruse by a ready movement in the opposite direction ; 

 and so dexterously is all effected, that however slovenly the 

 fisherman may be in handling his reel, the bend of the rod is 



