MOST FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS OF WATER. 177 



the side on which the angler is standing. It should 

 be subjected to every variety of motion, one cast 

 drawn steadily against the stream, and the next 

 with short jerks across it ; and even allowing it to 

 go with the current will sometimes prove inviting. 

 Great care should be taken not to lift the minnow 

 out of the water till it is quite close to the edge, as 

 trout will frequently follow the minnow, and make 

 no attempt to seize it until it is just at the edge, 

 when, apparently afraid that their prey is about to 

 escape, they make a rush at it. When a trout has 

 taken the minnow the line should be slackened for 

 a moment or two, to allow it to get the minnow 

 fairly in its mouth, and then the angler should 

 strike firmly. Fly-fishers are exceedingly apt to 

 strike the moment they feel or see anything, which 

 is much too soon. For this reason also a moderately 

 long line is advantageous, as with it the angler 

 cannot strike so soon, and as he is fishing down 

 stream it has also the advantage of keeping him out 

 of sight. 



The time of a flood when trout take the minnow 

 most readily is when the water is just beginning 

 to rise, and is of a whitish colour. Then it is 

 that the large trout begin to bestir themselves, and 

 leave the banks and stones where they have been 

 hiding, when the waters were clear, to roam about 

 the sides of pools and the tails of streams ; and here 

 it is that the angler should look for them. When 

 the river is in full flood little can be done, but on 



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