278 EARLY TROUT FISHING. 



tempting to fill a creel in the frost has been 

 violated on certain rivers without the penalty of 

 ill-luck having been incurred by the fisherman. 

 Nay, in a cutting wind, with showers of sleet 

 and pattering hail sweeping wrathfully over the 

 stream, big, profitable trout have been tempted 

 from its half-frozen depths. But it must be 

 admitted that angling with your teeth chat- 

 tering in your head, your nose blue with 

 the cold, and your hands numbed and 

 raw from the inclement weather, is not an 

 exhilarating or attractive occupation. Yet it 

 may be had under such trying circumstances, 

 I can assure my readers. Nor where the op- 

 portunity offers need the fisherman postpone 

 trout catching until March or April. The 

 fish caught even earlier may not be at their 

 best, but they are frequently in very good con- 

 dition, and those that are not, can be returned 

 to the stream. One great advantage of early 

 trout fishing is that you are almost certain o 

 getting more " rises " than you will be later. 

 The trout feed voraciously, and do not suck 

 or frisk with the flies, but appear to bolt 

 them with refreshing eagerness and credulity. 



