THE SALMON FAMILY. 35 



it springs from the water to meet the descending fly ere 

 it strikes the surface, and the mad and repeated leaps from 

 the water when hooked, the Rainbow Trout must ever hold 

 a high rank. The gamest fish we have ever seen was a 16- 

 inch Rainbow taken on a fly in a small spring branch 

 tributary of Williamson River, in Southern Oregon. It was 

 in a broad and deep pool of exceedingly clear water. As 

 the angler, from behind a clump of willows, made the cast, 

 the Trout bounded from the water and met the fly in the 

 air, a foot or move above the surface ; missing it, he dropped 

 upon the water, only to turn about and strike viciously a 

 second time at the fly just as it touched the surface; though 

 he again missed the fly, the hook caught him in the lower 

 jaw from the outside, and then began a fight which would 

 delight the heart of any angler. His first effort was to reach 

 the bottom of the pool ; then, doubling upon the line, he made 

 three jumps from the water in quick succession, clearing the 

 surface in each instance from I to 4 feet; and every time 

 doing his utmost to free himself from the hook by shak- 

 ing his head as vigorously as a dog shakes a rat. Then 

 he would rush wildly about in the large pool, now attempt- 

 ing to go down over the riffle below the pool, now trying 

 the opposite direction, and often striving to hide under one 

 or other of the banks. It was easy to handle the fish when 

 the dash was made up or down stream or for the opposite 

 side ; but when he turned about and made a rush for the 

 protection of the overhanging bank upon which the angler 

 stood, it was not easy to keep the line taut. Movements 

 such as these were frequently repeated, and two more leaps 

 were made. But finally he was worn out after as honest a 

 fight as Trout ever made." 



This is the fish which the Department of Fisheries has 

 been consistently introducing with great success into suit- 

 able New South Wales waters for some years past. The 

 Trout which are distributed are at present hatched out and 

 grown at the Government Hatchery at Prospect, N.S.W., 

 which is in proximity to the Sydney Water-Supply 

 Reservoir. 



Amongst others which have been introduced into the 

 rivers of New South Wales may be mentioned the English 



