EARLY TROUT FISHING. 



pin and a garden worm. Hence the pensive 

 fisherman plucks an hour or two of his 

 vanished youth out of the past as he plods 

 along the stream in the March forenoon. But 

 he must not forget his business in reverie. 

 What flies are you to put up ? Any flies will 

 do, so that they be tiny, and not too bright if 

 the brook be clear. The March trout is 

 not fastidious. He is no epicurean critic of 

 the contents of that ingenious store of imita- 

 tive insects you carry in your pocket. He is 

 not used to the elaborate preparations of the 

 shops, and for that matter he is rather ignorant 

 of winged ephemeral food in any shape. But 

 what you offer must be skillfully and cautiously 

 presented. Stand far in on the bank. Watch 

 that promising spot below the sobbing and gur- 

 gling waterfall and wait until that big island of 

 a cloud drifts across the face of the sun. As 

 soon as the glitter has faded from the place, 

 twitch with that grace and lightness that be- 

 come the practised hand your almost invisible 

 line, and there you see your fly has been 

 taken, and a herring-sized beauty is quivering 

 on the withered fern by you. At this hour 



T a 



