74 TROUT LORE 



to camp, got an ax and spent half a day clear- 

 ing away the brush and roots, doing it so care- 

 fully that a chance fisherman would not discover 

 the improvements. I figured it all out, where 

 I would stand, etc. ; then I waited three days be- 

 fore I visited the pool again. Several times I 

 caught a glimpse of a fish so large that my heart 

 nearly choked me; but he would not respond to 

 my offerings, and I resorted to night tricks. I 

 am not going to tell you of the result, only this 

 I, with lamp, went down at eleven o'clock at 

 night and with a white millar fly took three trout 

 which weighed over five pounds. 



A subject often debated among night fishers 

 is whether or not it is best to select a night when 

 the moon shines brightly, some contending that 

 trout rise more freely in "the dark o' the moon," 

 while about as many maintain that if the night 

 be as "light as day" the fish are more often "on 

 their feed." I think the true answer would be 

 the noncommittal. "That depends." As I have 

 again and again pointed out, one must not lay 

 down hard and fast rules as to what trout will 

 do under any given circumstances; we can only 

 generalize. There are times, or at least streams, 

 where trout do rise on dark, moonless nights; 

 there also are streams from which I have taken 



