These of Loch Awe are very
peculiar fish. I take it that there are two species--one short, thick,
golden, and beautiful; but these, at least in April, are decidedly
scarce. The common sort is long, lanky, of a dark green hue, and the
reverse of lovely. Most of them, however, are excellent at breakfast,
pink in the flesh, and better flavoured, I think, than the famous trout
of Loch Leven. They are also extremely game for their size; a half-pound
trout fights like a pounder. From thirty to forty fish in a day's
incessant angling is reckoned no bad basket. In genial May weather,
probably the trout average two to the pound, and a pounder or two may be
in the dish. But three to the pound is decidedly nearer the average, at
least in April. The flies commonly used are larger than what are
employed in Loch Leven. A teal wing and red body, a grouse hackle, and
the prismatic Heckham Peckham are among the favourites; but it is said
that flies no bigger than Tweed flies are occasionally successful. In my
own brief experience I have found the trout "dour," occasionally they
would rise freely for an hour at noon, or in the evening; but often one
passed hours with scarcely a rising fish. This may have been due to the
bitterness of the weather, or to my own lack of skill. Not that lochs
generally require much artifice in the angler.
Pages:
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44