the weather be very coarse, it is useless fishing, either in the morning or at night, and the trout will take most readily during the early part of the day.

At all seasons, and at all hours, and in all conditions of water—unless, perhaps, in a full flood, when an occasional blink of sunshine is beneficial-we prefer dark weather for trouting with the minnow; and in June and July the weather can hardly be too coarse.

In warm summer nights, the minnow is a very deadly bait, and should be fished with in quiet still water, and about the shallow water at the foot and edges of pools, as trout cruise about among such places all night.

The par-tail may almost be considered as a substitute for the minnow, and it is a very deadly lure for large trout in large rivers, particularly when they are flooded, but in small streams we have never found it of much use. It is unnecessary to instruct the reader in the method of capturing par; in Tweed, or any other stream where they are numerous, he will generally get far more than he wishes. They frequent the thin water, and take most readily in a sunny day.

The tackle used for par-tail should be of the same kind as that used for minnow, but with larger hooks, say a No. 1 for the lower hook, and a No. 5 for the upper, with a drag attached as in a minnow-tackle.

CUTTING OF THE PAR.

165

The following illustration shows the most approved method of cutting and baiting the par.

B

Divide the par across from A to B, and cut off all the fins till it resembles the second figure, then take the large hook, and entering it at the tail, run it along the back, and out at the other end, curving the bait to make it spin.

Some anglers bait the par-tail in the reverse manner from what we have indicated, thinking it is more natural looking, but when so put on, it rarely spins well, and never lasts long, whereas, baited with the small end to the line, it will spin for hours. A partail, bait it any way you please, resembles nothing in life; and the only object to be aimed at is, as in minnowfishing, by rapid spinning to conceal the tackle, and create an appearance of life.

Thus baited, it should be used in the same manner as a minnow, and among casts of the same

description.

The two conditions of water most favourable for the use of minnow are also those most favourable for the use of par-tail, either when the waters are swollen, or when they are small and clear. Sometimes trout will take minnow more readily than par-tail, and sometimes, we are informed, though we have never experienced it, they will take par-tail more readily than minnow; but for our own part, we never use par-tail when we can get minnows.

CHAPTER X.

LOCH FISHING.

ANGLING in lochs is not held in such estima

tion as angling in running water. There is a tiresome monotony in fishing continually in still water, where the angler must ply his lure unremittingly in the same manner. There is no whirling eddy, no rippling stream, no projecting bush or bank. where, if the angler casts neatly, he is almost sure to be rewarded for his skill; the nicety in casting, so essential in order to fish a river successfully, being here almost entirely dispensed with. Nor is there much room for bringing into play knowledge of the habits of the trout, local knowledge almost entirely superseding it; for the angler, guided by a boatman who is familiar with every bay or bank where sport may be expected, has merely to throw his line, and the only skill requisite is in striking and landing a trout. Fishing from the bank, if the angler is without attendant, requires more knowledge of the habits of the trout, than fishing from a boat, as the angler

has to find out for himself the places in which to fish; but with all his skill, he can never tell with any certainty which is a good bay, and which a bad one, nor can he tell, as in a river, at what cast to expect a trout.

The trout also, from a variety of causes, are not so wary, or difficult of capture, as the wily inhabitants of most streams. Highland lochs are generally of a dark colour, which helps to disguise the angler's tackle; and as the trout are little fished for, and rarely disturbed, they are by no means shy.

All these things render loch fishing a less difficult, and consequently less interesting branch of angling, than fishing in our southern streams. It is indeed the simplest fishing of any, and the one in which the tyro and the accomplished angler are most upon a par; and we do not wonder that most good anglers prefer capturing smaller but more wary trout in southern streams, to larger and better trout in some remote loch.

Still loch fishing has its advantages. It is not nearly so fatiguing as river fishing, and therefore better adapted for some. A sail on a loch possesses great attractions, and as many of our lochs are situated amidst the finest and grandest scenery in the country, the angler must indeed be destitute of taste, if he can find no enjoyment in it. In an angling point of view, great inducements to fish in lochs are the large size and fine condition of the trout. In this last respect, they certainly surpass those that are