360 THE KEEPER'S BOOK 



Every gillie should have a large landing net and 

 pail to carry trout from one place to another. By net- 

 ting the small streams 1000 trout can often be caught 

 in a day and distributed over several small lochs and 

 allowed to grow at their own sweet will. On reaching 

 from \\ Ib. upwards they will give capital sport to 

 several rods for a whole season. Much can be done 

 in this way, whilst other lochs containing too many trout 

 and too small to give sport, can be netted and trans- 

 ported to another, or the spawning-ground can be 

 curtailed, when their numbers will soon be lessened. 



On many occasions I have known anglers capture 

 a score of small trout with rod and line and carry them 

 to some other troutless loch, and in after years re- 

 capture them of a takable size. This is a slow process, 

 but answers the purpose quite well, and serves to show 

 what can be done in this primitive way. Lochs that 

 are too shallow can be deepened by raising the outlet 

 by means of a few stones. An hour or two spent at 

 this is often the means of opening up many acres of 

 fishing-ground, formerly covered with weeds. Other 

 lochs of too deep a nature for producing food can be 

 made shallower by deepening the outlet, little falls can 

 often be blasted and allow of trout entering a loch. 

 Many other points will occur to the observant gillie, 

 which he should bring to the notice of his employer. 

 I know of no other branch of sport that is so much 

 neglected as the care of and improving of trout- 

 fishing. 



