102 MY SPORTING HOLIDAYS 



It may possibly be asked by a reader, What is an 

 otter ? It can thus be described : Take a piece of 

 deal board, say 3 feet long, 1 foot wide, and ^ inch 

 thick ; weight it cunningly with lead so that it floats 

 upright in the water, submerged almost to its full 

 depth. Then fasten four lines to it through holes 

 bored in the wood, and so arranged that, when they 

 converge a foot or two from the board to the point 

 where the running-line is fastened to them, the board 

 will swim through the water on the same principle 

 as a boy's kite flies in the air overhead. 



The running-line may be 60 yards or more in 

 length. To it are fastened numerous trout-flies in 

 short gut cast-lines. Then turn the otter loose in 

 the lake, either from the shore or, better still, from a 

 boat. Gradually pay out the line as the boat is rowed 

 along the lake, or the holder of the line walks along 

 the shore. The otter will then, if properly con- 

 structed, swim parallel to the boat or the man, the 

 full length of the running-line away, the numerous 

 flies meanwhile sweeping the surface of the water in 

 between. Thus 60 or 70 yards of lake can be con- 

 tinuously fished in one process. The spring of the 

 line gives the necessary play when the trout are 

 hooked. 



One afternoon I went out otter-fishing with Jordhai 

 in a quiet mountain lake that is ultimately drained 

 into the Roma Valley. We brought back a splendid 

 bag of two-pound and three-pound trout that amply 

 satisfied the requirements of our larder, while the 

 method of their capture grossly violated my angler's 

 instincts. 



What I enjoyed far more was to fish with a small ; 

 trout-rod the mountain streams which fed and also 



