120 THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER 



If the fish are feeding, or are ready to feed, 

 upon winged insects, they will be found in a posi- 

 tion from which the angler's fly may be seen, in 

 which event he may hope to bring them to the 

 artificial. But no amount of skill will induce a 

 rise if the fish are hidden in the strongholds with 

 which these rocky pools abound. It is absurd 

 to expect that a big fish, lying near the bottom 

 of a pool which may have six or eight feet of 

 water in it, will come that distance upon the 

 first appearance of a tiny morsel of food upon 

 the surface. A fish that has retired to deep 

 water is not interested in food; or, if he is, only 

 caddis larvae, dobsons, etc., that may be picked 

 up on the bottom, or some other sort of food 

 considerably under the surface, will attract his 

 attention. 



Trout fortunate enough to escape the many 

 dangers which beset them in our streams grow 

 to great size and become largely nocturnal 

 feeders. Night feeding is an instinct of the fish, 

 though the smaller ones are forced by the ap- 

 petite of youth to seek food in daylight, also. 

 This is why a pool that looks as if it should 

 contain a big fish (and probably does) yields 

 but a few dandiprats when the condition of the 

 water has been unchanged for any length of 



