Autumn Days in the Rockies. 



water I never cast a fly over. Putting my rod together, I tied 

 a couple of flies and began casting. I tried the quiet riffles 

 near the banks and under the shelving rocks where it seemed 

 there must be trout, but not a rise could I get. I walked 

 slowly up stream, climbing over rocks and around waterfalls, 

 casting here and there in likely places in hopes of securing a 

 "big 'un." 



Many large trout could be seen in the deep, clear pools, 

 but they would not take the fly. Time and time again I 

 changed flies, but to no purpose. Near the falls I met an angler 

 carrying an unjointed rod in his hand. "There are plenty of 

 trout down there," he said, pointing toward the pool above 

 the falls, "but they are not biting today." This was discourag- 

 ing, but I went down determined to find out for myself. Sev- 

 eral casts in the still waters failed to bring a rise, so I clamb- 

 ered out on some rocks and casting by a half sunken log got a 

 rise and hooked the fish, but the current was so swift that in 

 trying to snub him away from some brush he tore loose and 

 was gone. 



With him went the remnant of my rapidly fading dreams 

 of fried trout for breakfast, so I reeled up and started for home. 

 My unrewarded efforts of the afternoon were not such as would 

 afford the average angler much pleasure. However, my dis- 

 appointment was not as great as might be supposed. In 

 reality the fishing was but one of the many pleasures of that 

 afternoon's experience. To a lover of nature the keen enjoy- 

 ment of following up a mountain stream on such an ideal day 

 amid such grand scenery is itself sufficient cqnipensation for 

 all the labor. As I neared home in the early twilight, I saw a 

 Denver angler dressing a catch of twenty trout on a big flat 

 rock beside the stream. Upon inquiring where he caught them 

 he replied, "Between here and Crossen's." 



This was the very water I had fished over so carefully just 

 about two hours ahead of him, which proved to me that there 

 were plenty of trout in the stream that could be caught at the 

 proper time, with the proper bait, by one who knew how. 



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