172 THE PRACTICAL ANGLER 



are exceedingly apt to strike the moment they feel 

 or see anything, which is much too soon. For this 

 reason also a moderately long line is advantageous, as 

 with it the angler cannot strike so soon, and as he is 

 fishing down stream it has also the advantage of 

 keeping him out of sight. 



The time of a flood when trout take the minnow 

 most readily is when the water is just beginning to 

 rise, and is of a whitish colour. Then it is that the 

 large trout begin to bestir themselves, and leave the 

 banks and stones where they have been hiding when 

 the waters were clear, to roam about the sides of 

 pools and the tails of streams ; and here it is that 

 the angler should look for them. When the river is 

 in full flood little can be done, but on its beginning 

 to subside, when the particles of mud are settling, 

 but the water is not yet of the dark porter colour, 

 trout will again take the minnow readily, and in the 

 same places the ebb sides of pools, and tails of 

 streams. When the waters are in this state, large 

 trout may sometimes be seen rising at the fly close to 

 the edge, on the deep side of the water ; in such 

 circumstances they will take a minnow readily. 

 Sufficient shot should be used when the streams are 

 swollen to keep the minnow well under water, as 

 by doing so it is more likely to be seen, and the 

 light being less the character of the lure is not so 

 easily detected. 



In flooded waters trout take the minnow during 

 the whole of the angling season, but more readily in 

 May, June, and July than in any other months. In 



