THE TROUT. 



THE Trout is a fine fish, nearly allied to the royal family, and 

 excelled only by the Salmon, the King of fresh water fish. He 

 affords choice sport to the Angler, being a determined game 

 fellow, and when hooked will fight so long as a particle of 

 strength remains. He who angles for the Trout will require to 

 make use of all the skill and ingenuity which he possesses, for 

 he has a fish to deal with that is cunning and sagacious, and 

 difficult to get at. A friend of mine once said to me when 

 we were about to commence fishing in a small Trout stream, 

 "now for a bit of foxing." He knew well what a sly little 

 fellow we had to deal with, and that we would require to 

 make use of that characteristic of the fox before we could cap- 

 ture him. I am quite of my friend's opinion, and believe that 

 no other fish requires to be angled for with greater art and tact 

 than the Trout. 



Trout deposit their spawn in November, but I once caught a 

 Trout full of spawn on the 5th of December, but I believe it to 

 have been a late fish. November is, however, their proper time 

 for spawning, and it is a proof of the extreme hardiness of the 

 fish that they should spawn as it were in the middle of winter, 

 living in their weak and sickly state in December and January, 

 the two coldest months in the year. I scarcely know a fresh 

 water fish that does not forsake the sharp streams in winter 

 and retire to the stillest places they can find, except Trout. 



