66 CATCHING THE WILY SEA-TROUT 



place the all important state of the river must be con- 

 sidered. Then attention has to be paid to the kind of 

 lure which will prove most suitable. 



In a general way I am prepared to agree that sea- 

 trout do not come into the picture to the same extent as 

 do brown trout. Perhaps the cause for the difference 

 is due to the fact that sea-trout are so easily frightened. 

 Again, in some waters sea-trout figure markedly in 

 returns for day-time angling, while for other rivers the 

 records for the same hours are poor. 



If a river is well bushed and is not over fished, I see no 

 reason why sea-trout should not be taken by the astute 

 angler when the sun is up. If, however, the river is 

 open, there is not sufficient cover for the fish and the 

 sea-trout are consequently more shy, especially if that 

 water is fished other than rarely. 



With a river low and clear, the difficulties of the angler 

 are accentuated, and he will have to employ all his wiles 

 to fill his bag. Even in having to contend with those 

 adverse conditions, there is ample justification for him 

 to anticipate a fair measure of success, providing that 

 the sea-trout have arrived in the reach where he is fishing. 



A safe guide to be followed is to work with a fly when 

 the river is at or below summer level, and to postpone 

 the use of a metal minnow until such time as when 

 heavy rain brings a rush of coloured water ; but the 

 results obtained with a fly cannot be expected to be so 

 good as those achieved when a minnow is employed, 

 as everything is in the fisher's favour when the time 

 is opportune for mounting the metal device. 



There are divers ways of exploiting a fly. A simple 

 method for the angler who specializes in the dry fly for 

 brown trout, is for him to proceed in a similar manner 

 for sea-trout, but the fly used should be somewhat larger 

 than the ordinary brown trout pattern. If you are 



