HOW TROUT TAKE 



THE FLT 



AMONG the most interesting features 

 of trout fishing are the apparent dif- 

 fering traits of character shown by- 

 trout at different times. 

 It sounds oddly to speak of traits of character 

 in fish, but that is the way in which their various 

 actions impress the close observer ; sometimes they 

 are angry, sometimes they sulk, sometimes they 

 play : perhaps all their actions (when they are not 

 dashing around impaled on a hook) are caused by 

 hunger, by the instinct of catching prey for food ; 

 but it is an interesting question whether trout, 

 when they strike with their tails at flies in the 

 air, are animated by such an instinct of hunger, 

 following a habit developed from that instinct, or 

 whether they simply do it in sport, — the wanton- 

 ness of their innate liveliness. For that they do 

 at times spring out of the water and slap at the 

 fly in mid-air with their tails is the fact, although 

 many may doubt it. The trout often do it on 



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