6 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 



sport. The man who for a day, or many days, wades 

 down a secluded trout stream, not so intent upon his 

 cast of flies as to fail in observation of his surroundings, 

 or to miss the many chance meetings with the furred 

 and feathered forest dwellers so frequently offered the 

 angler who has the faculty of seeing, is never dissatisfied 

 with his "luck" ; his days upon the stream, be the creel 

 light or heavy, the Red Gods propitious or otherwise, 

 are always the most pleasant of memories, to be dreamed 

 again by the winter fireside and repeated at the earliest 

 opportunity. 



About the spawning habits of trout, it may be that 

 some time when walking through the woods in the au- 

 tumn, possibly hunting ruffed grouse or 

 spawning j eer vou W Q[ come upon some little 

 ' 



Habits. . T , . 



mountain stream. If you ever do and 



will take the pains to look for them, you may see some 

 very fine trout in that inconsequential rivulet. In Oc- 

 tober and November, the temperature of the water 

 having its influence over the exact time, the brook 

 trout may be found at the headwaters of the streams 

 and up the little "feeder" brooks where the spawning 

 takes place. The female constructs the nest, brushing 

 away the sand and gravel with nose and tail so as to 

 form a slight depression in the stream bed, and the eggs 

 are deposited therein. The male trout, at this time of 

 exceptionally high and brilliant coloration, is in constant 

 attendance. The brook trout, however, unlike the black 

 bass, when the spawning is completed gives the nest no 

 further attention. Under natural conditions, as dis- 

 tinguished from fish cultural results, only a very small 



