50 FOOD OF FISHES. 



fish keep to their places of retirement, some amongst 

 reeds and other water-plants ; some under banks, or 

 the shade of overhanging trees ; some under stones ; 

 and some squatting close to the gravel, sand, or sludge, 

 at the bottom of the water. 



When the sun begins to set, they quit their hiding 

 places for the more open parts of the water, the river 

 fish almost uniformly making for the centre of the 

 stream, or the edges of a current or eddy where they 

 find other fishes resort, and by coming behind the 

 smaller ones, they often succeed in swallowing them 

 before they are aware of their enemy's approach. It is in 

 such eddies and currents also where the more precarious 

 supply of insect food is to be met with; and here of 

 course the angler is most certain of finding good sport, 

 which, if he choose to follow it up, will continue all 

 night, and for some time after sun-rise next morning, 

 this depending, of course, on the brightness or dulness 

 of the water and the weather, as I have already ex- 

 plained. 



In different waters, however, there are peculiarities 

 of currents, eddies, and pools, that fish are fond of 

 haunting, concerning which no practical general rules 

 can be laid down. The angler must therefore find 

 these fish-haunts out by repeated trials, and store up 

 the experience he may thus acquire in his memory. In 

 the Ayr and the Lugar, I used to know every corner 

 where I was likely to raise a trout; but on going to 

 streams of a different character, such as the Cart, in 

 Renfrewshire, I had to make many trials before I 

 found out the peculiar haunts of the fish. 



