NOTES ON TROUT FISHING. 



CHAPTER I. 



EARLY TROUT FISHING. 



ACCORDING to the best authorities on such 

 matters, the trout is not in good condition 

 anywhere in the month of February. There 

 is, to be sure, an almanack or customary 

 licence to angle at that period, but the privi- 

 lege should not be enjoyed by an angler true 

 to the nicer instincts of his sport. The ex- 

 perts are as dogmatic on this point as the 

 hierarchs of every pursuit or calling are certain 

 to be. The fact is that some rivers are far 

 earlier in this respect than others. In large 

 streams the family arrangements of the fish 

 imply that they should be let alone until the 

 season is advanced to April or to May; in 

 smaller rivers March may be the best possible 



