328 BEST BAITS FOR TROUT. 



the angler from September to March. In the inter- 

 vening months they are either spawning or out of 

 condition. I never saw a trout in prime season before 

 May. In June trout are in their best condition. 



In the spring months trout are found in the 

 . shallows and rough streams ; in the summer 

 months they seek deeper water, and the best fish 

 are then .caught in pools with the fly or worm, on 

 gloomy breezy days when the water's surface is 

 strongly ruffled. They are also found in whirlpools 

 and holes into which sharps and shallows fall, and 

 near to locks, flood-gates, rocks, ' large stones, 

 weirs, under bridges, or between two streams 

 running from under their arches, and likewise in 

 the returns of streams where the water seems to 

 boil, and in the decline of summer they are to be 

 found near mill-tails. In September they run up 

 to the shallow parts of streams, and enter brooks 

 and even ditches to spawn. As food they are 

 now, except in a few late rivers, good for nothing, 

 and are so weak that they afford the angler no 

 sport. In the early spring months trout will 

 take the worm all day long, but in the summer 

 months, with the usual weather, the artificial fly 

 is the best bait during the day hours. In the 

 morning and evening the worm and minnow 

 will kill well. Spinning the minnow in the way 

 described in the chapter on trolling is by far the 

 best way of using that bait for trout. In fishing 



