90 TROUT LORE 



can successfully play and net a two-pound fish, 

 or even a one-pounder, in a heavy rapid. 



As a rule I prefer to fish the dead-water and 

 inaccessible pools, not only because of the large 

 trout taken but also because of the greater skill 

 and patience required; nevertheless, I often turn 

 to the white water for pan fish, and heart-pal- 

 pitating excitement. There is a certain joy in 

 fearing that your tackle will break if it doesn't. 



I once located what I thought was a large 

 speckled trout in a dead-water at the head of a 

 long tumultuous rapid. Several times I caught 

 fleeting glimpses of his magnificent proportions 

 when he rose to examine my offered flies, but 

 always he returned to the depths after a single 

 glance. Day after day I visited the dead-water 

 but never did I even prick him with a hook. He 

 was old and wise and shy. Then one evening, 

 just as dusk was gathering, I slowly climbed the 

 rapids, my mind fixed upon the pool at their 

 head. Just where the water poured out of the 

 pool there was a shoot of some twenty feet with 

 a fall of four or five. Thinking that perhaps a 

 trout might have taken up his abode just out- 

 side the down-rushing flood, as often is their 

 habit, I sent my flies, two black hackles, out to 

 the likely spot. Instantly a great trout, a rain- 



