Related article: let, ** Lomtjern," on whose rocky
shores we occasionally spent an
hour or two on the way back
from more distant waters : its
trout are not exactly free risers,
but they average well, and the
view across innumerable pine-clad
fiu^es to the mighty snow-clad
^ants on the horizon is superb.
One day while prosaically em-
ployed in plucking cloudberries,
which grew in great abundance
all round, we came across a sub-
sidiary tarn, not more than a
couple of acres in extent, a couple
of hundred yards or so from the
main one. On the latter we had
failed to get a single rise ; from
its small neighbour in an hour
and a half we got over four dozen
odd, running three to the pound,
in a perfect blaze of sunshine
and in a dead calm, by using fine
gut and small flies.
On July 22nd, a spell of hot
weather set in — ^with the usual
effect. The bums became voice-
less; slender streams of crystal
clear water trickled down the
beds of the larger '* baeks ; " the
area of each lake became greatly
diminished ; while grass and water
plants covered the surface of the
bays and creeks. During the
day cloudless sunshine rendered
successful angling impossible ;
and although of an evening the
trout were to be seen disporting
themselves everywhere in hun-
dreds, it was no easy matter to
compass even a modest basket of
eight or ten pounds, and early in
August we ** moved on." June
was this year a much warmer
month* in Southern Norway than
in *99; and, encouraged by the
comparatively high air tempera-
ture, on June 19th we ascended to
our old quarters at Skovdal, where
we found that exceptionally mild
weather had been experienced for
quite three weeks. Lying as it
does in the middle of a forest
country, all the lakes in the neigh-
bourhood are utilised more or less
for timber-fioating purposes, and
up to the great Norwegian festival
of " Sant Hans " (June 24th} they
are subject to the artificial fluctu-
ations caused by the closing or
opening of the various dams con-
structed for gathering the logs.
Under these conditions **Borte
Vand" presented a very unfamiliar
appearance. Hundreds of acres
of the surrounding moorlands were
flooded ; the islands had com-
pletely disappeared ; partially sub-
merged pine trees reared their
heads every here and there above
the Buy Cycrin surface, upon which much
dibris floated ; and a huge boom at
the mouth ojf the river encircled
some thousands of logs. Owing
to the greatly enlarged area of
water, the trout were very hard
to locate, for all the usual banks,
shallows and bays, where we had
been accustomed to catch them,
were quite useless ; at the end of
the first day, however, the creel
contained over six dozen good fish
438
BAILV S MAGAZINE.
Dni
in excellent condition, picked up
in all sorts of queer places.
Desirous of ascertaining to what
height the warm weather had
affected the condition of the trout,
we proceeded on the 21st to
** Lomtjern," 2,350 feet above sea
level. Even at that height the
air was balmy and mild, insects
were plentiful, and the trout rose
freely ; but the extra 600 feet was
too much, and so poor was their
condition that of the many cap-
tured we only brought back ten
or a dozen. With the same object
in view we next day tried " Fjeld
Vand," 1,950 feet ; but even in
that excellent loch, 200 feet only
above ** Borte,*' the fish were not
nearly fit, and so to the latter we
accordingly stuck for the ensuing
week, during which period we
caught 421 trout, averaging over
iJIb. a piece. It had somehow got
into the heads of the owners of
** Fjeld Vand " that owing to the
sport obtained on that loch in
*99, we proposed renting it ; these
worthy men had accordingly netted
the main confluent more severely
than usual during the preceding
spawning season. The result was
unmistakable, for so much had the
fish fallen off in numbers and size
that this year we visited what was
formerly our best loch on three
occasions only, and declined abso-
lutely to entertain the idea of
leasing it on any terms whatever.
•* Borte Vand," on the other hand,
owing to the protection accorded
its principal tributary, was better
than ever, and throughout our
stay yielded baskets of from four
to eight dozen a day with greai
regularity, while the other lochs
fished quite up to the standard of
the year before.
Perhaps the most singular thiag
about these waters is the prefer-
ence which the trout appear to
exhibit for thundery Tveather. Out
of a total of 950 caught by the
writer in '99, and of 1,344 las:
year, 720 and 937 respectively
were taken in the first three weds
of each season, during wfaidi
periods thunder, lightning and
electric symptoms generally w^c
very much in evidence- We are
disposed, however, to think that
at that time of the year — ^say for a
month from the 20th or 2Sth of
June — they will rise to the fly to
a very great extent regardless of
weather; and that later on the
converse may almost be said to
be the case. By the first week in
August the hot Norwegian sum-
mer sun has induced a libera/
supply of food of all kinds for the
trout, which are in consequence
fat and hard to please ; the tem-
perature of the water is too high ;
and the character of the wearber
that usually prevails is such as to
curtail materially the hours durinf
which angling is possible. The
season of 1899 was very dry, that
of 1900 unusually wet, but the
heavy rain that fell at the end of
July and beginning of August in
the latter year had little if any
efiect in improving the fishing,
which fell off in the above ratio as
it did at the corresponding period
in 1899.
Elk.
190I.]
439
The Hunt Button in France.
Xhb following is translated from
an article on the " Hunt Button "
in the last issue of the Annuaire de
la VSneris Frangaise. The import-
ance attached to this badge is
reflected in the fact that the
sportsman who wears it is called
** a Hunt Button."
BouTON d' Equipage.