A liter lean Game-l''isltes 



continue to seek it for pleasure did it not 

 avoid capture by its cunning, or resist it by 

 its strength or activity. In fact, to many 

 anglers, perhaps to most, this righting ca- 

 pacity is the main characteristic of a game- 

 fish, as it might be in a pugilist. That it 

 is not the only one is shown by the con- 

 tempt in which some hard-fighting but 

 worthless fish are held. Whatever quali- 

 ties be accepted as essential, certainly that 

 fish which possesses the most of them, or 

 in the greatest degree, will be entitled to 

 the highest rank. Each angler will place 

 his own estimate upon the relative value 

 of individual qualities ; but if we are ever 

 called upon to settle a point of contested 

 precedence, that fish, other things being 

 equal, whose habitat is the most interest- 

 ing, delightful, and sequestered, and whose 

 capture involves the most refreshing exer- 

 cise, shall be placed first. 



All of the elements that go to make up 

 this " gameness " in a fish vary greatly 

 according to various circumstances, and 

 none more than wariness and activity. 

 The same fish may at one time be agile 

 in the extreme, at another quite lethargic. 

 But the change of mood as to shyness or 

 cunning is even more striking. The shy- 

 ness of the trout is proverbial ; yet I have, 



223 



