104 FLY FISHING AND SPINNING 



placed in the more productive waters of ponds and reservoirs. 

 Trout will feed better in fairly temperate weather than when 

 it is very cold, and a rise in temperature after a cold spell 

 is productive of good sport, due to the improved appetite 

 of the fish, to the greater activity of insect life, and some- 

 times to their quick recovery after spawning. Trout lose 

 their desire for food as the spawning time approaches, and 

 though they commence feeding after it is over, they do not 

 regain their full feeding powers until the warm spring 

 weather is reached. 



TROUT AND THE CLOSE SEASON 



I am inclined to think that to the majority of trout 

 fishermen the natural history of the Salmonidae is as a 

 sealed book. Fishing to them is but a pastime to which 

 the most delightful hours of their outdoor life are devoted, 

 and save during the moments which are spent in the actual 

 pursuit of this sport their interest in these game fish seems 

 to disappear. 



The life of the trout during the close season, for instance, 

 is practically unknown to the average fisherman, and 

 while the necessity of observing such a period is recognized, 

 the wisdom of the limits imposed by the various fishing 

 associations is but seldom considered, and receives but a 

 small proportion of the criticism which is deserved by so 

 momentous a subject. 



Are trout sufficiently protected by the present limits of 

 the close season ? 



In order to strengthen my own impressions in this matter 

 and to avoid the possibility of mistake, I wrote in 1906 to the 

 managers of several breeding establishments, to gentlemen 

 interested in trout breeding, and to those in charge of various 

 trout fisheries, asking them to give me their experience as 

 to the period which covers the loss of appetite prior to 



