52 AN ANGLER'S SEASON 



waters trout are at the height of their 

 vigour when they weigh one pound. 

 Some may ask why very fine gut is 

 desirable. Well, it is a fact, readily to be 

 verified, that on many a day a fisherman 

 using fine gut may have brisk sport 

 when an equally skilled hand using gut 

 less fine will have none or hardly any. 

 How are we to account for this ? It 

 is more astonishing than it seems at first. 

 The fish, so far as one can make out, are 

 not at all scared by passing leaves, or 

 straws, or twigs, or any other such things 

 borne down by the stream ; but they are 

 certainly shy at the sight of thick gut, gut 

 coarse enough to be distinctly visible. 

 Can it be that they know what gut is ? 

 The question deserves the attention of 

 such as are of a scientific turn of mind. 

 It is not only the trout's attitude towards 

 gut that occasionally tempts one to believe 

 it possible that the fish has an acquired 

 wariness. Time after time, when he was 

 near the bank, our trout mentioned above 

 bolted at sight of the landing-net. So 



