IRISH LOACH-TROLLING. 27 
calm or stormy, overcast or even moderately bright, 
this kind of fishing can be practised with success. 
There is no variation of weather within the period 
stated, in which I have not seen it successful. But 
anglers who were not mere poachers seldom resorted 
to it except when fly-fishing was impracticable. 
Amongst the former there was an impression, and 
one I know to be well founded, that the large and 
breeding trout of any lake may be injuriously 
diminished by the practice ; and the fly-fishing pro- 
perties of the water thereby considerably reduced. 
It was then in fact considered not reputable, and 
a proof of ignorance of the art, for any respectable 
angler to’ put out a loach when trout were to be 
caught by flies. It was therefore only in the 
intervals, when flies could net be employed, that the 
legitimate angler had recourse to the loach, And 
these intervals were not only the best, but the most 
.agreeable, for the practice. A fine calm summer or 
autumn evening from three or four o’clock to nine or 
ten, may be assumed as the appropriate time for 
loach-trolling, From the mode of mounting the bait 
on the hook, it will doubtless have been inferred that 
its vitality was neither likely nor essential. It will 
also have been understood, though but incidentally 
stated in the preceding remarks, that this kind of 
fishing was exclusively conducted through the 
medium of a boat. Wading, casting, spinning, or 
