6 TROUT-FISHING FOR THE BEGINNER 



extraordinarily acute. This is one of the 

 first things the angler will discover when 

 he makes his initial attempts to lure them 

 to his hook. Unless you keep exactly behind 

 them and tread warily, your sole reward will 

 be the sight of a shoal of trout fleeing for 

 their lives. The vision of a trout, however, 

 is limited by the amount and colour of the 

 water. In a flood, or when the spate is 

 subsiding, you can stand and cast your line 

 across or downstream without disturbing him 

 in the least, but try the same thing in summer, 

 when the water is at its lowest and clearest, 

 and he will have none of you. I have noticed 

 on many occasions when fishing hill-streams, 

 that an addition of an inch or two of fresh 

 water makes all the difference between 

 approaching trout with ease, and being 

 obliged to adopt the most careful stalking 

 tactics. Apparently a very slight increase in 

 the volume of water is sufficient to make 

 the fish approachable. They seize insects 

 just as readily then as when the water is low, 

 but their angle of vision, as far as the fisher- 

 man is concerned, appears to alter in the 

 latter's favour. 



Occasionally one meets an angler who 

 persists in lowering his voice when in pursuit 

 of trout, for fear that they will hear him. 



