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great abundance. All three fish take the same description of fly, the herring only requiring a smaller hook; this being the only change necessary when they make their appearance.

Sometimes one person will take as many as 200 in one evening; and this is considered very successful sport with rods, although many thousands may be taken with nets; in which case the produce is estimated by barrels. The net fishermen are generally the regular professional fishermen, whereas the rod fishermen are composed of amateurs, farmers, and peasants living on the coast; but even with the rod and line many of the latter contrive to take, during the summer and autumn, sufficient fish to salt and dry for their winter's supply. In the winter many of the peasants bring the long line and hand line into beneficial requisition; the method of using which I have already fully explained.

About the end of June and beginning of July the herrings arrive from the south in very large shoals, and after remaining a few weeks, move northwards. During the time they are in the sound and in the neighbouring lochs, rod fishing is uncertain, as seith and leith, as well as fish of every description, leave their usual places of resort in pursuit of the herring's fry, which may be frequently seen in myriads; and as these are constantly in motion, being urged by their

numerous voracious pursuers, they are rarely to be found long together in the same place; but as they have enemies in the air as well as in the water, in the shape of sea gulls, equally assiduous in pursuit, fishermen are generally informed to what spot they can successfully direct their operations.

As a general rule, whenever there are any herrings in any loch, sound, or by the coast, every other kind of fish is plentiful; and when they disappear, fish are scarce for a season. The herrings in the Sound of Jura, and in the contiguous lochs, are small and very inferior to those taken in Loch Fine, which are perhaps the largest and best-conditioned caught anywhere. They are taken by thousands and dispatched in boxes by the steamers to Glasgow, Liverpool, and elsewhere, a small quantity of salt being sprinkled between each layer.

THE SPLASH NET.

This net affords excellent sport; it is not so effective as a drag net, but is more manageable, demands less trouble, and requires fewer hands.

All sorts of fish may be taken in it. At night it may be used for salmon and salmon-trout, and in the day time for mackerel and for any other fish which may be in season. To take salmon and salmon-trout with it at night, you must approach those parts of the shore either in the sea-water lochs, or on the sea coast, where any burn or rivulet empties itself, and must exercise the same caution as with the drag net, by commencing your operations as silently as possible. The net must be properly arranged at the stern of the boat, across a plank made specially for the purpose, with the corners rounded, so that there may be no impediment to the letting your net out with speed and facility. One person can perform this operation.

In the first instance the net will require wetting, as it will not go out well when perfectly dry. A stone, of sufficient weight to keep the net fast and steady when in the water, must be fastened to the lead line at each end: the first stone must be dropped close to the shore. Take care always to have your lead line on the side you are enclosing. After the first stone is dropped, the person rowing the boat will proceed as quietly as possible, and as quickly as the lowering of the net will admit of, to the point which you intend making; when this is reached, the other stone may be thrown out as near the shore as possible.

If the lead line goes down well, the cork line will generally take care of itself. Having enclosed the space you wished, you will commence rowing backwards and forwards, and making as much disturbance as possible in the water, in order to drive the fish into the net; as those fish which do not strike in the first instance will do all in their power to avoid getting into the net, either by leaping over the top or by passing by the sides, if there be the smallest possible intervening space but the largest and best fish generally go into the net at once, and, when once in, are safe enough, provided the net be taken up properly; and this can only be done by two persons, especially when it is intended to reset the net, one taking in the lead line, the other the cork one. This must be done simultaneously, the lead line being kept a little higher than the cork one; by which means a bag is formed, preventing even the smallest fish from escaping, as in addition to salmon and salmon-trout, very fine flounders and codlings are frequently caught.

When it is intended to continue splashing during the night, the net must be taken in carefully on each occasion, the lead line being folded backwards and forwards on one side of the board, the cork line, in a similar manner, on the other side. When this is well done, the net will, on the following occasion, go out of itself as the

boat advances, with merely a slight pressure of the hand to keep it in its place.

To use the splash advantageously at night, the tide and weather must both be in your favour; and you must previously, in the day time, have made yourself thoroughly acquainted with the nature of the shore where you intend to operate, otherwise you may be disappointed, and expend your labour in vain. The night must be perfectly calm and still, and, in the next place, it must be low water; and if it happens that the moon is in that quarter in which there is little tide, so much the better, you will have a longer time for your sport and a better chance. Immediately after sunset, salmon and salmon-trout approach close to the edge of the shore, in those places where the fresh water descends, especially if the tide be ebbing; so that you may then commence your operations if favoured in this respect. The larger space you can enclose with your net the better; but you must take great care not to get your net into too deep water, bearing in mind exactly how far you may venture from the shore, guided by your previous examination of the coast; as sometimes the bottom shelves off suddenly, so that if the net were dropped into too deep water, the lead would not reach the bottom, and the fish would escape under it.

In those places where you cannot have the

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