4 TROUT-FISHING IN BROOKS 



widely differing from large stream fishing. I 

 should like here to differentiate between brooks 

 flowing through a purely pastoral country with a 

 gentle gradient and their fellows of the moor and 

 mountain valley. Boulders and heather chiefly 

 mark the course of the latter, which is usually 

 rapid, with a bottom of rock and gravel and 

 exceptionally clear water in normal conditions. 

 There is a lack of the weeds necessary for the 

 production of many fattening larvae and flies, a 

 scarcity of worms, minnows, fresh-water shrimps, 

 etc., and there is little of the foliage which 

 harbours various trout dainties. In such streams, 

 from these and other causes, the fish mostly run 

 small, as on Dartmoor. But while the general 

 methods of fishing are common to all, I desire to 

 more especially devote these pages to the brooks 

 of placid flow which meander through fertile 

 vales and flat cultivated districts. Here there is 

 abundance of food of every description, plenty of 

 deep, restful places with a bottom of clay rich 

 in animalcule, and umbrageous, weeded banks 

 full of nutritious diet for the trout. 



As a consequence, it may be taken for granted 

 that there is reason for the greater development of 

 the fish in these quieter brooks. As a matter of 

 fact, they are to be caught of sizes which would 



