FAVOURITE HAUNTS OF TROUT. 59 



currents ; and finally to the strong streams and gravelly 

 rapids, for the double purpose of obtaining more abund- 

 ant food, and getting rid of the lernse and other parasites 

 that may have infested them during their winter torpor. 

 Numbers of those which had retired to the lower deeps 

 of the river in the autumn, now reascend, and station 

 themselves for the season ; generally preferring a stream 

 or pool that has been in existence for a year or two, to 

 one newly scooped out by the winter floods. I scarcely 

 ever knew a newly-formed stream hold a single fish 

 worth anything for the first season, however perfect and 

 inviting it might appear ; and so satisfied am I of the 

 fact, that I never waste time in fishing it. The reason 

 probably is, that the beds of such streams do not contain 

 any^ crustaceans or larvae in their beds for food. 



The favourite haunts of large trout during summer, 

 are such places as an eddy behind a stone, or where two 

 currents meet ; the pool below a ledge of rock or gravel ; 

 behind or underneath a large stone or log of wood ; the 

 hollow under a bank, especially if the current sets against 

 it ; beneath lumps of turf in the middle of the stream, 

 roots of trees, under the shade of overhanging bushes, 

 and in pools into which sharp streams and rapids fall. 

 In small rivers they frequently ensconce themselves 

 under sedges and weeds, especially in the beginning of 

 the season, before their strength is fully restored, and 

 also during the heat of the day in summer, when the 

 waters are low. But when in full vigour and on the 

 feed, they will be mostly found in the swift streams, and 

 often in the upper part of mill-races. Fish will also be 



