LOCH-FISHING. 421 



After very tightly corking up the bottles, and fastening the 

 cord to them, let from two to eight feet hang down, accord- 

 ing to the depth of the water ; fix a large double pike-hook, 

 armed upon brass wire, and baited with a small perch, trout, 

 roach, or frog to each : be sure to cut off the perch's dorsal 

 fin and lower part of the gills. The baits are inverted, the 

 barbs of the hook projecting from their mouths. The best 

 time for this amusement is on one of those delicious evenings 

 with scarcely a breath of air, when the shadow of the moun- 

 tain becomes more imposing on the unrippled loch, and twi- 

 light begins to steal over the scene. Let the hum of the 

 beetle be your warning bell. 



Having arranged all your tackle, and baited your hooks, 

 place them regularly in a light two-oared boat, and row to the 

 weedy bay. You will now drop them one by one, about 

 twenty yards apart, outside the weeds, between the shallow and 

 the deep. 1 The pike have been basking all the sultry day in 

 the shallows, and are just emerging from their green covering 

 in search of food. The first object that arrests their hungry 

 eyes and craving stomachs is your tantalising bait, suspended 

 at such a distance from the surface as to excite no apprehen- 

 sion, and as to be perfectly still. With avidity it is seized 

 and pouched : down goes the bottle. Scarcely, perhaps, has 

 it disappeared, when another follows its example : it is noth- 

 ing uncommon to have four or five all bobbing up and down 

 at the same time. The sport now begins, the angler stretch- 

 ing to bis oars, first after one, then another, as they alternately 

 rise and sink. If large pike are hooked, they will often keep 

 their tormentor under water for a minute at a time ; and to 

 run the whole down is no contemptible evening's exercise. 



1 Sometimes, when the water is unconfined, it is necessary to fasten the trim- 

 mers to prevent their floating away. Cut poles of about ten feet ; fix a heavy 

 stone, with a piece of twine longer than the depth of the water, to one end, and 

 the trimmer with another piece of twine to the other end of the pole, which lies 

 flat on the top of the water and prevents the fastening-line from dangling near 

 the bait. 



