BROOK TROUT AND FLY-CASTER 7 



percentage of the eggs are hatched, possibly, at best, 

 five per cent. The time of incubation is from sixty to 

 ninety days. 



Under favorable circumstances it takes about three 



years to make a pound trout, but the extent of the 



waters inhabited and the abundance or 



andRan lack f f d therein also the nature of 

 * the food supply have great influence in 



determining the rate of growth of brook trout. As 

 above noted they thrive best upon insect food. The 

 range of the brook trout is quite extensive ; for instance, 

 they may be found in nearly all of the United States, 

 although they are not indigenous to all of the States 

 whose waters they now inhabit. As to the numbers in 

 which they may be found in any given locality, it is 

 well, when planning a fishing trip, to remember that 

 often, as Henry Guy Carleton has said, the brook trout 

 exists only "in the clear, cold, running prospectus of a 

 hotel charging $4 a day." 



Fly-tackle 



The tackle for trout fly-fishing has been developed to 

 a point of excellence where further improvement, save 

 in unimportant details, seems impossible. The rods, 

 reels, lines, and flies now specially made for the fly- 

 caster are certainly things of beauty and, if carefully 

 treated, practically permanent joys. The matter of 

 tackle selection for brook trout fly-fishing is a very sim- 

 ple affair to the man who knows. But the man who 

 does not know is quite capable of going to considerable 



