SALMOJS^ID^. 41 



vni. i 



Although trout [Salmo fontinalis) are found in all streams 

 frequented by salmon, save in rare exceptional cases, their 

 habits are in some respects so dissimilar as to require brief 

 separate mention. The trout is not anadromous ; neverthe- 

 less, in streams which flow into the ocean, he is not averse to 

 occasional trips to the brine, where he grows fat and improves 

 in flavor and beauty. This is the case with the trout of Long 

 Island. On the coasts of Nova Scotia and Labrador 1 have 

 taken the common trout at the mouths of rivers side by side 

 with the sea trout, with identity so positive as not to be con- 

 founded with them. In one instance, in Labrador, I found 

 a small stream absolutely deserted by its tenants, and al- 

 though I plied my rod through all its length to its source, I 

 got no rise except at its mouth ; yet I had previously taken, 

 and afterwards took them in quantities above. For the 

 most part, however, the foraging grounds of the trout are 

 in the fresh and limpid waters of his nativity. There he 

 feeds upon whatever the bottom or running stream supplies, 

 or whatever chance may cast upon its surface — feeds often 

 to repletion. Some anglers wonder why a trout will bite at 

 one time and not at another. They expect always to find a 

 well-fed trout at the point of starvation, and eager to swal- 

 low the first bait offered, no matter how glaring the iraud. 

 The well-fed trout is not only suspicious of traps, but nice in 

 his diet. Hence the necessity of discrimination in the selec- 

 tion of flies in angling. I have seen a school of trout darken- 

 ing the bottom of a stream with their numbers, and refusing 

 every description of natural and artificial lure — fly, minnow, 

 grub, worm, and grasshopper in their turn, and finally rise to a 

 light green bud of pennyroyal, trolled athwart their fastidious 

 noses. At the same time the angler, wading cautiously hi mid- 

 stream, might almost stir them with his boots ! There seems to 

 be no positive rule for the selection of flies, although the most 



