Clear-water Trolling. 89 



see it ; you will feel the fish easily, or perhaps see the 

 water agitated when he rises ; lift your rod and strike as 

 uprightly as you can, or a little with the water. 



If you strike in too great a hurry and horizontally, the 

 way you are trolling, you will snatch the bait out of the 

 fish's mouth, whether he will or not, supposing he has 

 struck it clear of the hooks ; but this he can scarcely do 

 even with the simplest tackle, much less with the more 

 complicated. Trout are frequently seen to follow the 

 Minnow to the very edge, yet hesitate to take it. When 

 such is the case, do not halt or stop in your trolling, but 

 keep on at the same speed. The next cast he will per- 

 haps dash at it just as it is emerging from the water, 

 even at the very edge. It sometimes happens that a fish, 

 if either he has not risen when followed, or has risen and 

 missed, will not rise if you continue to troll in the same 

 direction. When this happens, troll past him in the op- 

 posite direction, and he is often tempted, particularly if 

 you troll at a greater speed. That is, suppose you have 

 been trolling against the stream, reverse your plan and 

 troll down stream, fetching it past him like lightning, 

 and you will almost certainly startle him to take it. 

 This has been frequently proved. 



In all clear-water trolling it is best to wade up stream, 

 and fish before you on either side, for the same reasons as 

 those given under Fly-fishing. Clear- water trolling re- 

 quires finer tackle, smaller Minnows, and less lead ; only 

 keep your bait well under water. In the summer months, 

 or from the middle of April to the end of August, trolling 

 is not so successfully practised in the day time, though 

 the water be clear and the weather dark and windy. 

 The reason of this is probably that in the beginning and 

 end of the season Minnows are a novelty, and they then 

 take them best, while afterwards, when they get cloyed 

 or surfeited with them, and a greater variety of baits 



