196 WILD LIFE AND THE CAMERA 



the stick-like larvae of the caddis fly, which were 

 just about ready to hatch. This proved most 

 alluring, and within an hour I had landed a number 

 of trout, some of which were fine big fellows. 

 Some days later I tried the same experiment with 

 equal success when flies were disdained. I do not 

 wish it to be understood that I regard this as a very 

 sportsmanlike way of fishing, but as an experiment 

 it was interesting. 



For these Kern River or Gilbert trout, and others 

 of the rainbow type, the most killing flies are usually 

 the hackles, particularly the brown hackle with 

 yellow body. The coachman, Montreal and grizzly 

 king also prove good. The number eight hook 

 seems about the best size ; sometimes a larger one 

 is better; while on one day I had no luck until 

 I tried some on number sixteen hooks. These 

 brought me no end of sport, and I landed some 

 very fair-sized fish with them during the morning, 

 while the men who were using larger flies had no 

 luck. 



There are no rules as to where the trout will 

 most likely be found, but in general their habits 

 are much like those of the Eastern brook trout. 

 The smaller fish do not appear to be very shy, but 

 if you would catch the large ones, your chances of 

 success will be greatly increased if you keep out of 

 sight as much as possible. This is especially true 

 when fishing in the pools. In the fairly shallow 

 rapids, where the trout go when feeding, they are 

 not so easily frightened, though even then a long 

 line will usually get more rises than a short one. 



Different stretches of the Kern River seem to 



