34 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 



CHAPTER IX. 



FARMER BOYS AND THE TROUT. 



I WANT to tell my young readers something of 

 the habits of brook trout, and how they can aid in 

 their protection and increase their numbers in the 

 streams that flow through their farms. Brook or 

 speckled trout cast their spawn in their natural or 

 wild state, principally from October i$th to Decem- 

 ber 1st; while in confinement they continue until 

 March I5th. 



At this time they frequent the shallow waters at or 

 in the vicinity of the head waters of the streams, 

 where there is a plenty of gravelly bottom on which 

 to deposit their spawn. The males at this time are 

 gaily decked out with their brilliantly spotted coats 

 and beautifully colored crimson fins. The females 

 maybe readily distinguished by their more matronly 

 appearance and sombre hues. After they have 

 mated, the female begins to prepare her nest. 



Now the point I wish to make, and impress upon 

 the minds of my young readers, is this : While 

 rambling about the farm in the fall, and along the 

 banks of the stream, the trout are frequently dis- 

 covered in the shallow water, and it is many times 

 an easy task to capture them, and not infrequently 

 they are thrown upon the shore with the hands. 

 This in -itself is a great wrong, and as a matter of 

 principle should not be done, any more than you 



