THE TROUT 



which we refer* of nearly five pounds weight ; such instances, 

 however, are rare, three pounds being considered a very large 

 fish. We do not remember ever seeing a poor fish of this kind 

 taken ; they are invariably in good condition, let the size be 

 what it will ; their principal food is the minnow and shrimp, 

 particularly the latter, with which early in the season their 

 stomachs are found to be filled ; they feed upon the minnow 

 rather later in the season, when the increasing warmth of the 

 water invites it to leave the warmer springs of fresh water, 

 where it has passed the winter, and venture into the shallows 

 round the margin of the bay, it then becomes an easy prey to 

 the voracious trout, which pursues it with desperate boldness 

 to the very feet of the angler as he stands in the water, obli- 

 ging it in shoals, to leap from the surface, and sometimes even 

 to be cast on shore in its attempts to escape its hungry jaws. 

 Though they are, on the whole, the best bait ; the shrimp on 

 the contrary, living as they do among the eel-grass in the bay, 

 which also affords shelte'- to the trout, being more within 

 reach, may consequently be said to supply their principal food, 

 at least through the winter months. As it is necessary in the 

 pursuit of all game to be governed by a knowledge of its par- 

 ticular food, so it may be said of the sea trout; their motions 

 while in the salt water being regulated by those of the minute 

 fish on which they live. Both minnows and shrimp are more 

 or less affected by the action of the tide, particularly the lat 

 ter, which in its reflux sweeps the passive shrimp in shoals 

 across a sandy eddy of the bay, into the very mouths of the 

 expectant trout, who there collect and He in wait to feast up- 

 on them." 



The last mentioned species, (Lepomis Salmonea,) is pe- 

 culiar to our southern rivers, and with many southerners go 

 under the name of Trout Bass, or Brown Bass. They grow 

 to a much larger size than the northern trout, varying in 



* Waquoit Bay. upon Cape Cod, and Fire Place, L. I. 



