6 INTRODUCTION. 



of unanimous and general preserving the fish from being so 

 recklessly destroyed by the net. 



" I do not pretend to give a guide book list and account of all 

 the rivers, streams, and lakes where the angler may find employ- 

 ment. Their name is legion, arid it would require more time and 

 more knowledge of the Highlands than I possess. 



" There are few districts, however, from Ayrshire to Caithness 

 where trout and salmon do not abound. Many excellent streams 

 run into the Sol way Firth, and many good lakes are in that 

 district abounding in trout ; but mines and other works are 

 beginning to fill much of that country with a population most 

 destructive to game and fish. The Tweed and its tributaries are 

 known to all, and have been so often described by abler pens 

 than mine, that I say nothing of them. Then comes the lakes 

 and streams of Argyleshire, beautifully situated in a wild, rugged 

 country, abounding with Cockneys and summer tourists, who 

 torment the waters and trout to the most unmitigated extent. 

 Loch Awe will, however, always hold a high name for the large 

 lake trout, rivalling the pike in size and voracity, but far stronger 

 and more difficult to catch. When fairly hooked, too, a salmo 

 ferox of 20 Ib. weight will nearly tow a small fishing coble after him 

 during his first rush, on finding himself fast and firm on the line. 



" Inverness-shire and the west of Eoss-shire and Sutherland 

 are intersected everywhere by excellent salmon rivers and lakes full 

 to overflowing of trout and pike. It is a fallacy * to suppose that 

 pike are detrimental to the sport of the fly fisher, that is, in a 

 Highland lake where there is depth and space enough for both 

 kinds of fish to live and flourish. Of course, pike kill thousands 

 and tens of thousands of small trout, but the fault of most High- 

 land lakes is that there are too many trout in them, and the fly 

 fisher works for a month without killing a trout above a pound 

 weight. Pike keep down this overstock. There are still plenty 

 and more than plenty of trout remaining in the water, and of a 

 better size and quality than where they are not thinned. I have 



* [A somewhat dangerous statement to make, as the circumstances of 

 different localities are so different. ED.] 



