SEA TROUT FISHING 161 



the case with salmon, sea trout do not enter 

 rivers till they have stored up enough fat to last 

 them, if need be, till they have spawned, but 

 either because they still retain the power of 

 digestion, or because they are more active and 

 alert, more easily interested in what comes before 

 them, they certainly rise to the fly much better 

 than salmon do. One which I caught with a fly 

 in a river after a spate disgorged several of the 

 common black slugs, and it is clear therefore 

 that they sometimes bring an appetite with them 

 into fresh water. But for all that, sea trout 

 cannot either expect or need to find a stock of 

 food in clean rocky or stony fresh water, and 

 the angler must be prepared for their often 

 behaving like creatures that are quite independent 

 of feeding. 



The rise of a sea trout is generally bold and 

 even fierce. Sometimes it takes the fly with a 

 silent boil, or even without any sign on the surface 

 if the fly is deeply sunk. The typical rise, how- 

 ever, of a sea trout has some sound about, it. 

 There is a quick white splash in the dark water, 

 and (if the line is tight) the fish hooks itself 

 So violent and rapid sometimes is the sea trout 



