76 ALL ABOUT TROUT FISHING. 



rivulets, which it prefers to broad rivers; 

 during the daytime it keeps chiefly in the 

 shallow streams concealed under stones, 

 and can easily be taken with a landing- 

 net in the strong, thin water, the same 

 way as collecting creeper mentioned in a 

 previous chapter. The loach feeds on the 

 larvae of aquatic insects and such small 

 worms as it can meet, and will not in- 

 frequently bite at a baited hook. During 

 the latter part of May, June, and July 

 it proves a most deadly lure; fished in a 

 similar way to the minnow, it nearly 

 always accounts for a good fish. 



WHAT TO IMITATE. 



In minnowing in large rivers or heavy 

 waters, the secret of success is to try and 

 imitate an injured or frightened minnow; 

 therefore it is unnecessary to spin con- 

 tinually, and a likely time for hooking a 

 fish is at the end of a spin or jerk, when 

 the minnow is almost stopping from re- 



