The Trout Streams of the Missions 145 



is being whipped by many flies and rods and 

 many fine fish taken. 



This trout, fresh from the ocean, is virile and 

 full of fight, and once hooked leaps into the air 

 and is apt to play havoc with line and rod if not 

 handled with care. The fish enter the shallow 

 laguna, lie there for a while, and then ascend 

 the stream to spawn, following it up forty or 

 fifty miles. Very few rivers or trout streams flow 

 through a more radiantly beautiful region, as 

 here in the valley of the Santa Ynez mustard 

 is the crop of the farmers, and acres, miles of 

 this brilliant yellow blossom cover the land, rip- 

 pling in the sun in shimmering waves of gold, 

 changing to green and many tints in the strong 

 wind that comes up from the sea. The little 

 river, famed for its rainbow trout, winds up the 

 wide golden-tinted valley; now flowing through 

 verdant tunnels and alcoves of verdure, to bound 

 into the warm sunlight like a living thing, then 

 on through 



Meadows trim with daisies pied, 

 Shallow brooks and rivers wide, 



as here and there the Santa Ynez seems to es- 

 cape, and little brooks are formed which reach 

 away aimlessly to afford shelter for very young 

 trout. 



Away to the west lie great mountain ranges 

 tumbling down to the sea in waves of vivid green, 



