September. From the middle of April to the middle of June is apparently
the best time. The loch is well provided with bays, of different merit,
according to the feeding which they provide; some come earlier, some
later into season. Doubtless the most beautiful part of the lake is
around the islands, between the Loch Awe and the Port Sonachan hotels.
The Green Island, with its strange Celtic burying-ground, where the
daffodils bloom among the sepulchres with their rude carvings of battles
and of armed men, has many trout around its shores. The favourite
fishing-places, however, are between Port Sonachan and Ford. In the
morning early, the steam-launch tows a fleet of boats down the loch, and
they drift back again, fishing all the bays, and arriving at home in time
for dinner. Too frequently the angler is vexed by finding a boat busy in
his favourite bay. I am not sure that, when the trout are really taking,
the water near Port Sonachan is not as good as any other. Much depends
on the weather. In the hard north-east winds of April we can scarcely
expect trout to feed very freely anywhere. 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