FISHING ON SALT- WATER LOCHS. 435 



them to drag the coble until tired, when they floated quietly 

 to the side of the boat, submitting to their fate. 



Surface-fishing for " cuddies," as young seithe are called on 

 the west coast (called " podlies " in the Firth of Forth), requires 

 neither art nor science ; but the associations are pleasant, for 

 the sport is generally followed on a golden evening after a day 

 of intense heat. The loch and its girdle of purple hills are then 

 seen in the glow of their full beauty. Kowing from shore to 

 shore, and along the banks fringed with green copses, there is 

 continual change in the sunset lights and shadows. Then, 

 again, the bow of the boat is turned to the shallows of the 

 mid-loch near the Otter, where the busy throng is rising. The 

 sun falls below the western hill, and the sport of the evening 

 begins. 



Five or six rods, with line and tackle strong enough to pull 

 in a two or three pounder, are required ; for though seithe 

 above one pound are seldom hooked, there are larger fish, such 

 as lythe or cod, which often rise keenly to the " cuddie fly." 

 Seithe are a poor watery fish for the table, but lythe of a large 

 size are much in request. We seldom took them above a 

 pound in Loch Fyne, but I have captured some of seven or 

 eight pounds in the " olden time " on Loch Long. In the 

 Gareloch, too, when trolling for sea-trout, large lythe took my 

 minnow or garvie constantly, giving good sport for a short time, 

 but they never had the pluck or endurance of a sea-trout of 

 equal size. In those days I always liked to fish both Loch 

 Long and the Gareloch with a reel ; but this caution is little 

 needed on Loch Fyne. 



We made a curious discovery in the autumn of 1877 viz., 

 that seithe frequent fresh water. When trouting in Arrochar 

 Burn, my son caught eighteen "cuddies" nearly 100 yards 

 from the sea. The most experienced Loch Fyne fishermen 

 would not believe it until they saw his basket. They were 

 taken with brandling worm. As a set-off against seithe- 

 poaching in fresh water, some of the finest fresh -water eels 



