NEW BOTTOM-CREEPER BAITS FOR TROUT 45 



Hence, we may fairly assume trout food to be 

 more or less similar all over the northern zone, 

 east or west, with few exceptions to be mentioned 

 later on. 



Doubtless many anglers are unaware that the 

 greater part of aquatic insects while in the creeper 

 state are not available as food for fishes, because 

 they are out of sight burrowing in the mud or 

 sandy bottom from three to eighteen inches deep 

 below the water. The new-born wingless flies are 

 soft in substance, of a pale lemon color, not ac- 

 quiring their full coloration until some hours after 

 reaching the surface. This feature is general in 

 all the classes, and trout fishermen will often be 

 puzzled to find that the same insects have differ- 

 ent colors within the space of a few hours. Thus 

 it is that myriads of insects are hatched on the 

 bottom throughout the trout season, and by their 

 daily appearance, travelling through the water 

 to the surface, must naturally furnish abundant 

 food close to where the fish abide, so that it is 

 not at all surprising to find trout at different 

 periods unresponsive to our dry flies on the sur- 

 face, and even our wet flies just under the surface. 

 Trout are then feeding on a wingless creeper, and 

 a feathered imitation insect is not then wanted. 



