CHAPTER X 



The Right Way to Keep Fish Fresh 

 IN THE CREEL 



Most fish when first taken from the water are 

 very beautiful. Their plump, cool, shining bodies 

 are solid, yet springy. How different they look 

 after the day's fishing is done, and they have been 

 perhaps, carried several miles exposed to the burn- 

 ning sun. The creel is opened on arrival at the 

 hotel to find the fish dried stiff, so that they could 

 be stood upright like a burnt stick. The careful 

 angler does better. On the way down the stream 

 he looks out for dock plant, plucking enough of the 

 large, luxuriant leaves to line the creel and keep 

 the fish in their natural beauty. Neither grass nor 

 ferns make a good lining for the creel, as both 

 leave ugly print marks on trout, and neither is so 

 good to keep the fish fresh or free from flies. If the 

 creel is lined with large dock leaves the fish (espe- 

 cially small ones), lie snugly together, 

 Cree? g their cool bodies being unmarked; 



they also keep fresh, because the air 

 cannot penetrate between them, and for that reason 

 they keep their color. Opportunity is given for 

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