2 TROUT LORE 



ent time ; yet after much study and observation I 

 am ready to confess that I know little regarding 

 this finical captivating fish. I am not one who 

 concludes an ichthyic article with ita est and I 

 regard with suspicion the statements of those who 

 do, fearing lest they have not secured sufficient 

 knowledge to discover their own ignorance. 

 What shall appear hereinafter will be my own 

 conclusions based upon personal observation, true 

 of the streams fished and studied by me. Pri- 

 marily this is not to be a study of tackle, though 

 naturally one may not talk upon trout from the 

 angler's view-point without referring often to 

 the tools of the craft. Therefore as a key to 

 these papers we may quote kind hearted Walton: 

 "And now you shall see me try my skill to catch 

 a trout, and at my next walking, either this eve- 

 ning or to-morrow morning, I will give you direc- 

 tion how you yourself shall fish for him." 



I well remember the first speckled trout I 

 caught. I was but a mere boy, a slight fuzz upon 

 the upper lip indicating that some day, Fates 

 smiling, I might grow to man's estate. Note, I 

 was at the age when to say ita est was very easy. 

 The captain of the fishing party of which I was 

 a member was no mean ichthyologist and an ex- 

 pert with a trout rod. When upon approaching 



