THE BROOK TROUT. 2 I / 



to the few, the main principles of each may be learned [not 

 mastered] in a few minutes. 



In my judgment, the most important point in Trout-fish- 

 ing is gained by him who has acquired the correct method of 

 giving what is termed the "strike." It should be prompt, yet 

 delicate — prompt because the fraction of a second of lost 

 time may mean the loss of your fish, and one has to see but 

 once the suddenness w^ith which any distasteful morsel is 

 ejected some inches from the mouth of the Trout, to realize 

 the importance of promptitude in responding with the turn 

 of the wrist to the first gleam that denotes a rise. 



It is well to have the knack of making long casts, but they 

 are seldom requisite to success, particularly in stream-fishing. 

 With a short line you are more fully master of the situation, 

 and the most of the Trout are taken within thirty feet. A 

 long cast however, sometimes enables one to reach points 

 otherwise unattainable, but in practice nobody casts a fly 

 eighty or one hundred feet. That is casting, not fishing. 



When fishing for Trout, keep your eye on the stream. If 

 you see a rise, mark the spot, but be not in haste to reach it. 

 A master of the angle is seldom in haste. When near enough, 

 cast your fly a little short of the point you have noted. 



Then, if necessary, cast a little further, and if your cast is 

 well chosen and well made, the fish will probably show 

 itself. 



If you are wading, you cannot be too deliberate or cautious 

 in your movements, and by observing such a course, you 

 may sometimes even pass through a school of Trout without 

 sensibly alarming them. 



Study the insects along the stream, and make up your cast 

 accordingly, if practicable. Mr. H. Cholmondeley Pennell ad- 

 vocates the use of three typical flies for Trout, to the exclusion 

 of all those now in use. Never having tried them, I cannot say 

 as to their efficiency, though I had hoped to test them during 

 the present season, but a malady of the eyes has prevented 



