NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 295 



correspond in a great degree with the seasons when the natural 

 insect is abroad. 



If in addition to this acquisition, we can discern the face of the 

 sky, and study the conditions of the weather, the temperature of 

 the air and water, the direction of the wind and clouds, the character 

 of the streams, etc., we can reasonably determine where to fish. 



Observation has taught us that warm, sluggish and turbid wa- 

 ter is not the home of the salmonidffi. We know that they are 

 less liable to be found in a limestone country than amid a granite 

 formation. We find that fish don't bite after a thunderstorm, or 

 after a flood ; that after a heavy rain which washes unlimited food 

 into the stream, trout become surfeited and indifferent to the 

 angler's lures ; that the fish are sluggish on cold, raw and blustery 

 days, which are usually accompanied by northerly and easterly 

 winds ; that it is no time to fish when the streams are filled with 

 snow water ; that trout are most wary when the sky is cloudless ; 

 that windy weather is unfavorable for casting ; that the fish dwell 

 chiefly in those parts of the stream where the natural current car- 

 ries the surface food ; that the biggest fish select and occupy the 

 best places. We know, moreover, that the conditions which apply 

 to streams do not apply to lakes and ponds, and the rules that 

 govern the fishing for speckled trout do not apply to salmon and 

 other varieties of the salmo family. In ponds we must fish where 

 we find the coldest water supplied by bottom springs ; in deep 

 channels, which are frequently indicated by the growing lily pads ; 

 where cold brooks chance to empty themselves into the main body. 

 We do not fish where there are deposits of mud. The presence of 

 aquatic plants indicates mud, but if there be a space of clear water 

 it indicates gravel bottom caused by the flow of a current which 

 has deposited the silt and vegetable matter on either hand, just as 

 bottom lands on large rivers are formed. Sometimes, too, we find 

 patches of a succulent vegetable growth on the bottom swarming 

 with larvae. If we pull up a handful we find it alive with the food 

 that will attract the fish to the spot which the experienced angler 

 will instinctively resort to. Neither do the same conditions apply 

 alike to all ponds and streams ; for which reason experience can 

 only be gained by fishing over a great number of localities in as 

 many different sections of country. 



