276 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



for sunshiny weather, and the latter for cloudy weather or for 

 morning and evening. Both should be of large size — such as 

 are made for Bass and Salmon — and should be tied on 3-0 

 Sproat or Limerick hooks, and these mounted on the best 

 double and twisted gut snells. 



Generally speaking, it is not sportsman-like or esthetic to 

 use bait in taking Trout, but there are times when no fly in 

 the book will lure the Mountain Trout; and at such times the 

 angler is justifiable in resorting to more substantial diet, 

 especially if he have traveled a long distance and incurred a 

 heavy expense to reach the mountains. At such a time he 

 need not seek farther than tlie plebeian grasshopper. For 

 all-around work, every day in the week, it is the most killing 

 bait extant. There is not one Trout in a hundred but will 

 pounce upon a good fat 'hopper, like a hungry dog on apiece 

 of raw liver, and if you are on a stream that has Trout in it, 

 if you have good tackle, a tomato-can full of 'hoppers and 

 then don't fill your creel it's your own fault. The only Moun- 

 tain Trout that ever turns his tail to a grasshopper is the 

 big old fellow — the ten-pounder — the "Cannibal Trout" of 

 the Bitter Root; and almost the only bait that will raise him 

 oiit is a minnow or a baby Trout. 



If you ever fish a large mountain stream, a river that has 

 large deep pools that you can't see the bottom of, go up one 

 of the little brooks that flow into it, to where you can catch 

 some finger-long Trout; put them in a pail, keep them alive, 

 and go back to the river. Put on a 3-0 hook, pass the point 

 into the mouth of one of the small Trout and out at his gill, 

 so as not to hurt him; cast into the deepest part of the pool, 

 let him run and you are liable to get into trouble. Under- 

 stand, I don't advise this method as a steady occupation, but 

 only as a last resort; and to take one of the big Trout in this 

 way — one that is so blamed smart he won't look at a fly, or 

 even a 'hopper — is, I claim, legitimate sport. 



I have never resorted to this means myself, for I have 



