94 THE TROUT. 



a very short line a few feet before you, allowing 

 the bait to fall back with the stream into every 

 little hole or eddy caused by a sudden turn or a 

 submerged stone. When conscious of a bite, allow 

 a short time to elapse before striking ; and though 

 you may not have much sport, you will catch 

 plenty of fish. 



The best months for trouting with the fly are 

 April and May, or, in some waters, May and June.* 

 When the May-fly goes down, about the middle or 

 end of June, the trout are fat, shy, and lazy. They 

 come on to the feed again in the autumn, and, 

 though the fish then taken are undoubtedly smaller, 

 as heavy a basket may be made in the Northern 

 streams with the fly in September, as in any month 

 of the year. 



The best days for trout-fishing are cloudy, breezy, 

 and warm, the water slightly coloured from recent 

 rains, but not swollen ; and if, having these advan- 

 tages, the glass is rising, and really there are trout 

 in the water, it is your own fault if you do not 

 catch them. 



Fishing-tackle makers and fishing-books, which 

 are generally written in their interest, provide a 

 change of flies for every month in the year, and 



* Worm-fishing begins in July, and may be advantageously car- 

 ried on to the end of the season. 



