250 I GO A-FISHING. 



ated be informed that in trout-fishing very light tackle is 

 used, and if a strong fish secures a chance for a steady 

 pull or jerk against a firm resistance, he will probably 

 break away. The one great law of all fishing with a fly- 

 rod is this : " Never point the rod toward the fish, but 

 keep it always up, so that he pulls on the spring of the 

 rod." Therein lies the grand merit of the Norris rod. Its 

 spring is steady, even, long, and easy. After a few mo- 

 ments the fish drew the line through the lily stems and 

 went away for deep water. As the darkness settled down 

 the wind fell. This fish was one of the strongest trout I 

 had ever landed. Although he weighed only a trifle over 

 two pounds, he worked as bravely as any five-pound fish 

 that I ever saw. Five, six, seven times he went out of 

 water on the swing of the line. Trout never, in my ex- 

 perience, throw themselves out of water. Black bass do 

 it deliberately and ferociously. But trout seek usually to 

 go down. When they are straining on the line and swim- 

 ming in the arc of a circle, if they happen to start on a 

 rush with the head up, or only parallel to the top of the 

 water, the chances are that the spring of the rod will cant 

 the head of the fish toward the surface, and out he goes 

 in spite of himself. It sometimes happens, as in this case, 

 that a strong fish, to whom you have given the butt (that 

 is, the utmost force of spring which the rod has, including 

 the butt as well as the rest of the rod), will thus go out of 

 water several times before he is conquered. I wanted 

 this fish alive, but it was growing dark and I was in a 

 hurry. It was full ten minutes before I had him along- 

 side for the first time. He was apparently overcome. The 

 beautiful rod was bending in a graceful curve, almost a 

 circle, when down he dashed, strong as ever, the tip of 

 the rod brushing the fingers that held the butt, and again 



