THE COMMON TROUT. 237 



fins above water, and with skilful management 

 may be made to snap at the above-named flies. 

 When one is hooked, the rest dart off; but if the 

 angler keeps concealed, they will return again in 

 a very short time ; and thus several fish may be 

 taken even in summer from the clearest pools. 

 Another plan has also been recommended as likely 

 to prove successful when the weather is bright and 

 the water low : Take a line of about a yard in 

 length, and fix it to a short, stiff rod, and having 

 baited the hook with a natural fly, such as the 

 stoHe-fly, or the gray or green drake (Ephemerae), 

 drop it between bushes over steep hollow banks, or 

 under the projecting roots of trees. 



In fishing a river with which the angler has no 

 previous acquaintance, the most approved practice 

 is to try the eddies which are frequent at the 

 corners of streams, and where the circular move- 

 ment of the current throws out a frequent sus- 

 tenance for the finny race. There the larger trout 

 often lie ; and it must consist with the experience 

 of every angler, that an excellent capture is some- 

 times made repeatedly from some small spot behind 

 or beside a particular stone, where, from day to 

 day, one well-sized fish seems to succeed another 

 in the favourite feeding ground. In this knowledge 

 of particular localities consists the chief advantage 

 of a previous acquaintance with the water. The 

 smaller fish are found in most abundance in the 

 widely spread and shallow streams, as well as in 

 the extended parts of pools of no great depth. As 

 a general rule, the angler may be advised to fish 



