CHAPTER IX. 



WATER POACHERS. 



IF trout streams and salmon rivers are ever more 

 interesting than when the " March-brown " and 

 the May-fly are on, surely it must be when the 

 fish are heading up stream for the spawning 

 grounds. Then the salmon leave the teeming 

 seas and the trout their rich river reaches for 

 the tributary streams. At this time the fish 

 glide through the deep water with as much 

 eagerness as they rushed down the same river 

 as silvery samlets or tiny trout. Maybe they 

 stay for a short time at some well-remembered 

 pool, but the first frosts remind them that they 

 must seek the upper waters. A brown spate 

 rolling down is a potent reminder, and they 

 know that by its aid the rocks and weirs will 

 be more easily passed. If the accustomed 

 waterways are of solid foam the fish get up 

 easily, but the soft spray gives them little hold. 



