RIVER PRESERVING AND RIVER POACHING^ 



the fish are utterly uninteresting both as to hue and 

 taste ; above that, again, a fair-sized waterfall broadens 

 the river into a beautiful pool with a steady stream 

 flowing through the centre. In this the trout recover 

 their ' clean ' colour, but seem to acquire the dark 

 greenish hue here predominant : a tint derived from 

 the overhanging trees at one end of the pool ; from 

 the lichen-covered wall which forms its boundary on 

 one side ; and from the green meadow which slopes 

 down to it on the other. 



As these differences all occur within a distance 

 of about 500 yards, it is abundantly evident that 

 the appearance and colours of trout are greatly in- 

 fluenced by the nature of the water they inhabit, and 

 the surroundings with which they are encompassed. 



Should a river be one with but few runs or 

 1 sharps,' it is a good plan to throw in some big blocks 

 of stone where it is stillest and slowest. These 

 serve two purposes. The first is, they break some- 

 what the dull current or the water ; and the second 

 is they at once afford hiding places and * stances' 

 for the fish. It is almost a certainty to find a good 

 trout established in the back water formed by a 

 thrown-in rock, within a very short time of the stone 

 having been put there. Moreover, water weeds and 

 aquatic plants at once begin to appear around 



G 2 



