98 THE WONDERFUL TROUT 



When a day is hot, sultry, electrical, be- 

 fore the storm bursts fish do not rise well, 

 especially trout ; but after a storm or a 

 storm-cloud bursts, and heavy plumps of 

 rain or even hail fall, fish become more 

 lively. This, we believe, is due to two com- 

 bined causes the effects of change in the 

 light, and owing also to oxygenation of the 

 water. Salmon are, we believe, really less 

 influenced in these respects than trout. 



It would appear that fish do not rove 

 about in search of food in such conditions, 

 but remain, so to speak, 'glued to the 

 bottom' and both trout and salmon and sea- 

 trout are all affected. Even the net fisher- 

 men know this, and may even be observed 

 to take their work easier when such pro- 

 vision is made by the clerk of the weather 

 say, for instance, on some river pool of 

 Lower Spey in August. It is when fish are 

 running or roving that both net and rod do 

 most among fresh-run fish. Fish require to 

 be wakened up from sleep or sulking (?) 

 before they can be expected to take the fly 

 on the surface. So much do we believe this, 

 that we do not consider it ' a guilty thing to 



