HOW THEY FEED. 29o 



and other aquatic larvse which abound amongst the rich 

 soil, old piles, and wreck, so plentiful in every part of its 

 bed ; and from this habit their bellies, especially those 

 .of the larger fish, will be found quite flat on the under 

 surface, and angular towards the sides, and are well- 

 marked specimens of the bottom-feeding fish spoken of 

 in a former chapter. Such will seldom rise at the arti- 

 ficial fly, and can only be taken with their favourite baits 

 the worm, the minnow, or the caddis. Others again, 

 more inclined for insect food, may be seen on a calm 

 afternoon or evening, quietly sailing round in circles in 

 the still pools, just beneath the surface ; and ever and 

 anon popping up the tips of their noses, and gulping 

 down the natural flies fast enough. When .large trout 

 are feeding in this manner, the only disturbance they 

 create in the water is an almost imperceptible ring of a 

 few inches in diameter immediately round the spot ; no 

 splash is made by those crafty smooth-going codgers, as 

 when smaller fish are on the feed, and the whole 

 method of proceeding plainly indicates that it is food not 

 play that they are in pursuit of. I have frequently 

 observed large trout thus engaged in the still deeps of 

 the Till and Bowmont, between three and four o'clock in 

 a calm June morning, when nought else was astir save 

 the otter-hunter and the lark. And at this season, during 

 the heats of summer, the only chance the angler will have 

 of taking a single fish, is from daylight to six in the morn- 

 ing ; when, if he skilfully uses a well-scoured worm, I 

 doubt not he will be well rewarded for his early rising. 

 The paucity and shyness of trout in the Till may be 



