rolling as a _dernier ressort_ when we could not.
This, we doubt not, has been the experience of many of our angling
friends to whom the mere killing of fish is a secondary consideration
compared with the enjoyment of real sport. But when trolling is the
order of the day, either from choice or necessity, then this is the way
to go about it. We assume, of course, that the angler is equipped with
tackle and lines specified in Chapter V., and that he has a supply also
of live minnows with him. The elaborate tin-cans for holding minnows are
quite unnecessary so far as loch-fishing is concerned; any ordinary
vessel will do well enough for a day, provided the water is changed now
and again. In trolling, two rods will be found ample. They should be
placed at right angles to the boat,--the "thowl-pin," or, if there is
not one near enough the stern, anything (a cheap gimlet answers
admirably) fixed into the gunwale, being sufficient to keep the rod in
position,--so that the spinners, of whatever kind they may be, will be
as far apart from each other as possible. Take care that the butts of
the rods are well at the bottom of the boat, as we have seen a rod not
sufficiently fixed go overboard before now. A main point in trolling is
to have plenty of line out. There should never be less than thirty yards
out from one rod, and not less that forty from the other. By this
means, should a fish not see the first lure, he may see the second. If
trolling with natural minnow, which is much more apt to get out of order
than artificial ones, see that the bait is intact and spinning properly.
This involves the trouble of hauling it in for examination now and then;
but it is better to be at that trouble than be fishing with, mayhap, a
mangled lure, or one that has got out of spinning order, and more likely
to act as a repellent than an attraction to any fish in the
neighbourhood. In trolling any likely ground, the proper way is to tell
your man to zigzag it, not pulling the boat in a straight line, but
going over the ground diagonally, and thus covering as much of it as it
is possible to do with a couple score yards of line behind. The turning
of the boat necessitates a considerable circle being taken to keep the
lures spinning, and so that the lines do not get mixed up; and your man,
after making the turn, should row in a slightly slanting direction
towards the point from which he originally started, thus--

[Illustration]

and so on, till t