Methods and Equipment 331 



boatman finds the fish, and the trout hooks itself. 

 When wading down a trout stream with its aUer- 

 nating rifts and brown quiet pools, the experienced 

 angler gently drops the feathers atop the one or 

 across the still bosom of the other; he knows the 

 resting and feeding places of his quarry, and calls 

 that knowledge into play every dozen steps he 

 takes down the galloping and frolicsome stream. 

 The two legitimate methods of fishing for trout 

 are fly casting and worm fishing with a light rod 

 and delicate water gear. I am not so ironclad in 

 opposition to bait fishing for trout as are many of 

 my brother anglers. It is an art in itself, and a 

 knowledge of the habits of the fish and of the 

 stream in which it lives is as necessary for success 

 as they are in fly fishing ; and there are days when 

 fontinalis will not rise to the surface. A trout 

 taking the worm when cast on a light rod, must 

 be handled as skilfully as when he is on a hook 

 dressed with feathers. True, he is apt to fight 

 deeper, but as he seldom shows his body when 

 restrained by a fly rod unless forced to do so by 

 the muscular angler, and, when hooked, never 

 leaps in the air of his own sweet will, it is difficult 

 to define the degree of pleasure experienced in the 

 one method and not in the other. But just here 



