The Trout 



possibly have the faculty of distinguishing 

 colors in a fly, even when on a fretted sur- 

 face, where to our eyes they are very indis- 

 tinct, and where even the form can not be 

 well defined. 



In Great Britain it is the rule to use cer- Flies in their 

 tain flies at different seasons, that is, to 

 employ the imitations of such natural flies 

 as are on the water at the time. This 

 seems quite reasonable in view of the fact 

 that the trout streams there are shallow, and 

 especially so In the case of the chalk-streams 

 whose bright colored bottoms may enhance 

 the visual powers of the fish in discerning, 

 by the reflected light, the form and colors 

 of the artificial fly. 



We may conclude, then, that as trout are imitations of 

 In the habit of feeding on such flies and in- 

 sects as resort to, or are hatched in, the 

 water, that the best imitations of such 

 natural flies, from the trout's viewpoint, 

 would be the most alluring. I think it goes 

 without saying, that all past experience has 

 proven that the imitations of some of the 

 commonest aquatic insects have been the 

 77 



