LOCH-FISHING 



131 



The ansfler will be wise 

 to wade. Wading gives him 

 access to a greater area of 

 water and enables him to cast 

 to fish beyond reach from the 

 bank. There is nothing more 

 tantalising than the sight of a 

 large trout rising persistently 

 just without the limits of a cast. The young and eager 

 angler, fearless of consequences, may not let the spec- 

 tacle disturb his peace of mind. Undeterred by any- 

 thing so trifling as the lack of waders, he will cheerfully 

 enter the water, chancing a future ill in the hope of 

 securing a present good. He, however, who has out- 

 lived his youth, and in his failing energies perceives an 

 intimation of mortality, will, if his limbs be unprotected, 

 persuade himself that the fish is less desirable than it 

 appears, and pass on in search of an easier prey. 



Where the loch is fringed with weeds, wading is 

 imperative. Such a fringe is sent the angler for his 

 good ; it disciplines his temper and teaches him to bear 

 affliction patiently. When angling from the bank, he 

 finds it impossible to cast beyond its outer border, and 

 every fish he hooks while wading, at once seeks refuge 

 in its intricacies, and, refusing to be drawn, remains 



