234 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XVII. 



little more— in fact to be the active instead of the 

 passive agent. The trout, too, began to feel weary 

 of the contest, and to allow himself to be led about : 

 at last 1 brought him to the edge, but just as the 

 landing-net was being delicately slipped under him, 

 away he went again, and ran the line round a 

 broken piece of bank on the opposite side. I am 

 afraid something very like an imprecation escaped 

 me ; and if it did, I am confident that Job himself 

 could not blame me. Just as I had quite given all 

 up, the trout most carefully and good-naturedly 

 turned back the way he went, undoing the line again 

 as neatly as possible. After a little more running 

 to and fro he fairly gave in, and this time we got 

 him safely into the landing-net, when I found that 

 he was one of the aforesaid " brown lugs," weighing 

 nearly 5 lbs. — the largest trout that I ever killed on 

 the Findhorn, and mastered too with a fly only fit 

 for parr of the smallest size. 



I have frequently found that when a large trout 

 runs in that undecided manner at my fly, he will go 

 in right earnest at a much smaller one. Salmon 

 are more uncertain : it has happened to me that, 

 even in clear water, a salmon has leaped over or 

 refused a small salmon-fly, but has taken greedily 

 a very large-sized one. But this is an exception ; 

 and my experience would lead me, as a general 



