LOCH-FISHING 135 



its own will is, to the trout, too familiar to excite 

 remark. 



In a gentle wind the smooth water on the weather 

 shore will not, except during the evening rise, reward the 

 angler's industry. If he be unusually expert he may, 

 by the use of fine tackle and small flies, succeed in de- 

 ceiving an occasional rising fish, but his creel, like the 

 breeze, will be light ; only a Malloch of Perth fills his 

 basket in a calm. Should, however, the wind be of 

 sufficient volume to fret the water on the windward 

 side, he may, in perfect confidence, devote himself to 

 it. His lures will prove as attractive there as else- 

 where, and he will, besides, enjoy the advantage of a 

 following wind — though, if he be proficient in the exe- 

 cution of the " downward cut," he will, from the leeward 

 bank, cast a softer fly. 



But the angler will seldom have occasion to choose 

 between the banks. Our Scottish lochs are long and 

 narrow, and as the wind generally blows in the direction 

 of their length, it affects both banks impartially. If it 

 be necessary to consider the question of windward and 

 leeward at all, it will not be with reference to the loch 

 as a whole, but to one of the numerous bays with which 

 its margin is indented. While, however, the wind blows 

 along the loch, the wave assumes a slightly different 



