30 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 



had fairly closed it, so as to prevent getting any- 

 thing in his mouth he did not want. When the 

 lively minnow had swum away far as the line would 

 permit, the trout made a more forcible snap at it so 

 as to cut it entirely from the hook. The minnow sank 

 to the bottom, and the trout went after it and soon 

 had it stored away. I then discovered why I had to 

 move so often. I immediately baited the hook with 

 another minnow and lowered it down ; the trout 

 came for it again and snapped at it as before. I let 

 it sink to the bottom, where the trout went after it 

 and swallowed bait, hook, and all, and I never miss- 

 ed another one; where I saw the trout working at it. 



But how came all the trout to adopt the same 

 plan ? I do not believe they could have done so, if 

 there is not some way by which they can communi- 

 cate with each other. I have no doubt they would 

 have had the best of me again, if I had let one get 

 away, so that he could have held a consultation with 

 his brethren. 



Trout are not the only fish which possess this 

 reasoning power. We will take the little shad just 

 hatched, with which many of our rivers have been 

 restocked, particularly the Hudson and Connecticut, 

 by the artificial method discovered by myself in the 

 year 1867. When I deposited them in the river, on 

 either side, they would start directly for the middle 

 of the stream. They knew that there were thou- 

 sands of hrge minnows which roamed along the 

 shore to keep out of the way of the larger fish in 

 the middle of the stream, and that they would eat 

 up the little shad, which were too small for the 

 larger fish to notice. 



