GAME-FISH THAT LEAP ABOVE THE SURFACE 109 



himself. The remarkably varied ways they re- 

 sist is a never-ending surprise to me. Exceptions 

 there are to every rule, due, of course, to season, 

 the kind of water, and the lure employed. On 

 rare occasions I have had brook-trout leap, but 

 it is not the usual thing. Neither is it usual for 

 large chub or pickerel, yet half a dozen of the 

 latter fish, caught in Hempstead pond at Rock- 

 ville Centre, L. I., leaped above the surface ex- 

 actly in the manner of trout. But it is not the 

 habit of pickerel to leap above the surface, neither 

 is it of large perch; yet they do sometimes dis- 

 play that trait. 



With the Montana grayling it is their constant 

 habit to leap. They lie in shoals at the bottom of 

 deep water; then, darting upward to the fly like an 

 arrow, if they miss, go down just as quickly, but if 

 they succeed in taking the fly, then begins a fight 

 under and above the surface equally aggressive. 

 Time after time their silvery slim bodies flash above 

 in the sunshine like iridescent shells waved in the 

 sunlight. With wide-open mouths and tall dorsal 

 fins erect they seem like a part of the sparkling 

 clear element which is their abode. The grayling is 

 a fish that should be more widely known in Eastern 

 waters. They have for centuries lived in amiable 



