LAKE FISHING 



hastily and hard than is usual or desirable ; and a 

 smash will then most probably ensue. 



When trout are large it seems requisite to let a 

 longer time elapse before the strike is made, whether 

 in lake or river, than when they are small ; and I can- 

 not help thinking that as a rule fishermen err on the side 

 of striking too rapidly. Certainly this appears to me 

 to be the case when using the artificial Mayfly. When 

 the river fished is a rapid, rough stream, where trout 

 do not run to a large size, then the quickest possible 

 strike must be made, because it is probable that in 

 such water the rise is not noticed till it is half over ; 

 and also because, the current being swift, the whole 

 operation has to be correspondingly nimble in its 

 execution. 



But to return to lake fishing. What I ha\e 

 hitherto said in relation to this subject has been ex- 

 clusively in connection with fly fishing. There are 

 other methods of killing trout in lakes; indeed nearly 

 all the monsters of which any records exist have 

 been caught by spinning, either with a phantom or 

 a natural minnow. In Ireland, on the Westnu-ath 

 lakes, 'dapping,' or using the blow line with the 

 natural Mayfly, accounts yearly for the great majority 

 of the big trout captured in those charming waters. 



