4A FISHING IN AMERICAN WATERS. 



SECTION THIRD. 



TIMES OP FEEDING AND HAUNTS OF FISHES. 



Most fish are said to be night-feeders, yet all of them feed 

 more or less in daytime. Like spiders, all of which feed in 

 the night, and are tempted to come abroad when the weather 

 is so cloudy as to resemble twilight, so also the fishes, with 

 this farther peculiarity, that a turbid state of the water from 

 recent rains may so dim the light that they will bite when 

 the sun shines brightly. 



When the weather is bright and the water clear, most 

 fishes keep their places of retirement, some among reeds and 

 other water-plants, some under banks or ledges of rock, lurk- 

 ing in deeper and deeper water as the weather becomes 

 warmer, so that the feeding-level for lake trout, which is often 

 from four to eight feet in early spring, is found from fifty to 

 a hundred feet below the surface in July and August. River 

 fishes seek the shade of overhanging trees; some under 

 stones; some squatting close to the ground over springs, 

 sand, or in the sludge at the bottom of the water. In differ- 

 ent waters, however, there are peculiarities of currents, ed- 

 dies, and pools that fish are fond of haunting, concerning 

 which no practical rule of general utility can be laid down. 

 Waters, to be most successfully fished, must be first under- 

 stood by fishing them. 



STRENGTH AND PROPULSIVE POWER. 



The true indication of a fish's strength is found in the 

 shape of its head and shoulders back to the first dorsal fin, 

 while its speed or propulsive power is shown by its shape 

 from the front of the second dorsal and anal fins to the end 

 of the tail, and the shape of this caudal continuation. Of the 

 forked-tail, it has already been remarked that the swordfish 

 and salmon are supposed to be the most rapid swimmers, 

 while of the square-tails the brook trout and squeteague are 

 supposed to propel with the greatest velocity. Among fishes 



