58 SPRING ANGLING 



Don't fish dozvn stream in slow flowing water, 

 but up. If the water is swift, you imist fish down. 



Don't yank your fish out of the water as if you 

 wanted him to fly, but it is well to get him out 

 with reasonable haste. 



Dont fish hastily ; don't be afraid to renew your 

 bait frequently ; and dont forget that the most 

 successful fisherman is he who has his line the 

 most in the water. 



With these few don'ts as preliminary to the les- 

 son, I now proceed to fish a typical mountain 

 brook with you. 



Of course your worms are well scoured, as I told 

 you in the chapter on sucker fishing. That being 

 so, select a moderately large one, and bait your 

 hook. Here the stream runs through grass land 

 tolerably level. Crawl near and let your bait fall 

 gently. It is invariably as soon as the bait 

 touches the water that the voracious little fish 

 bite and ha ! you have one, but it is very small, 

 too small to keep. Yes, the State enacts five 

 inches as the least size at which the trout may be 

 kept ; and taking your little fish off as gently as 

 possible, we throw him back. Try down by yon- 

 der bush that hangs over the stream ; drop your 



