432 THE MOOR AND THE LOCH. 



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. 

 When a small seithe is hooked, pull it in at once, and out 

 with the rod again as fast as possible : sometimes nearly all 

 the rods have a fish at the same time. In lythe-fishing you 

 need not launch your boat till low water : sink the fly with a 

 couple of buck-shot, and troll on the brow, where it descends 

 perpendicularly ; this is easily seen at that state of the tide. 

 When you hook a large fish, try to prevent it getting down, or 

 you may be obliged to throw the rod overboard, in case the 

 lythe should break away ; but if you can manage to swing it 

 about at the top for a short time, it will soon be unable to offer 

 any resistance. 



Trolling with the white feather has this recommendation, 

 that it may be enjoyed by an invalid or party of ladies ; and 

 certainly a more delightful way of spending the cool of a sum- 

 mer evening cannot be imagined rowing slowly along those 



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 appearance : 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 occasionully taken by the hand or long-line. 



