TROUT IN THE NIGHT-TIME 73 



Intimate stream knowledge is an absolute pre- 

 requisite. By stream-knowledge I mean a men- 

 tal picture of every current, eddy, snag, over- 

 hanging bank, out-leaning brush and menacing 

 branch. I am speaking of small streams, of 

 course. You can so learn a stream only after 

 many a daylight expedition. I have found it a 

 good plan to study out the cast in midday 

 where I will stand, where the rod shall swing, the 

 fly strike, and w 7 here I will play the fish if hooked. 

 Why, I often practise the whole thing over and 

 over again before I attempt the venture. Of 

 course that is because I resort to night fishing 

 when I catch a glimpse of some square-tailed 

 monster that refuses to show any interest in day- 

 light lures. 



Some years ago I was fishing a certain much 

 visited stream and one day stumbled upon a pool 

 which no one had ever fished for the simple reason 

 that it was impossible to get at it, leaning trees 

 and brush, as well as many snags, making it out 

 of the question to touch the water with any sort 

 of lure whatever. Indeed, it was when disen- 

 tangling a snarled leader that I had tried to 

 force down through the "interlacing protector- 

 ates" that I discovered the deep pool off under 

 the roots of a large tamarack tree. I returned 



