THE TROUT 13 



I remember on one occasion watching a 

 trout cruising round a very shallow pool, 

 which was divided from another pool of like 

 nature by a bar of sand and gravel. Evi- 

 dently tiring of its surroundings, the fish 

 proceeded to wriggle across the wet gravel, 

 and arrived safely in the second pool. I then 

 dropped a small hackle fly just in front of 

 its nose ; and it took the lure greedily, 

 eventually finding its way into my basket. 



7. Drainage, poachers, etc. ; fishing a national 



asset. s ; . ^ 



In the old days, before the drainage of 

 land was thoroughly taken in hand, our 

 streams were less liable to sudden floods. 

 To-day a river may be running bank-high in 

 the morning, and by evening it will be nearly 

 at its normal level ; whereas in our grand- 

 fathers' time, the same stream kept pretty 

 full for a week or more after a spate, and 

 its lowest level was then much higher than 

 is the case now. With surface water 

 finding its way gradually to the river, trout 

 food, in the shape of insects, larvae, etc., plus 

 the mud on which many of the aquatic 

 insects live, was more likely to last longer 

 than is possible now when a sudden rush of 

 water is liable to carry everything before it. 



