FEBRUARY 25 



droppers, instead of standing out, are 

 in limp contact with the cast; then, 

 without much hope, you put on another 

 set, and from that moment you have 

 trout after trout as quickly as you can 

 ply ! This may befall when, so far as can 

 be seen, there is no great rise of insects. 

 What is the cause ? It is simply that 

 you have found a lure representing an 

 insect on which the fish are feeding or 

 are willing to feed. The trout seem to 

 have lost discretion. On ordinary days 

 you approach them with much care, 

 crouching or otherwise out of sight ; but 

 now, so eager are they to snap at what 

 you offer, they seem not to heed your 

 presence, and sometimes rush at the lure 

 when it is within three yards of your feet. 

 Now and then this happens amid condi- 

 tions of weather that do not appear to be 

 good. With an exception to be noticed 

 in our April chapter and another to be 

 discussed in May, it is invariably, as far 

 as I have had experience, a lure of definite 

 pattern that brings about the wonderful 



