TIMES OF FEEDING AND HAUNTS OF FISH. 49 



water or taken by a fish." <e We have known the sal- 

 mon," says another intelligent writer, " as well as the 

 trout, so capricious, as often to prefer a fancy fly, 

 without having any prototype in nature, to all others, 

 whether real or imitative 1 ." 



TIMES OF FEEDING AND HAUNTS OF FISH. 



MOST fish are peculiarly night-feeders, and though, 

 like other night-feeding animals, they occasionally feed 

 in the day time, it is not their constant or usual habit ; 

 and hence the very common disappointment of anglers, 

 who often find, in spite of their most alluring baits, that 

 " the fish will not bite." I have frequently remarked, 

 that spiders, all of which feed in the night, are tempted 

 to come abroad when the weather is dull and overcast, 

 so as to resemble twilight, and it is precisely the same 

 with most fish ; with this farther peculiarity, that even 

 in bright sun-shine, the muddy state of the water, from 

 recent floods or other causes, will darken their light, 

 and entice them to look out for prey. This, though 

 one of the most important principles upon which the 

 angler must rely, has not hitherto, that I am aware of, 

 been brought into prominent notice in books on ang- 

 ling, but is left to be gathered from vague and diffuse 

 accounts of the water and the weather. 



In bright weather, accordingly, during the greater 

 part of the day, even in more dull weather, at least 

 when the water is very clear, most, if not all sorts of 



(1) Brewster's Eucycl. Art. ANGLING. 

 E 



