82 MOSTLY ABOUT TROUT 



When the trout himself is visible you can, 

 with practice, form a fair estimate of his size 

 and make up your mind whether to try for him 

 or not. (Even when he is not seen, the breaking 

 of the surface gives indications.) Then his 

 mood. What sort of mood is he in ? Hungry ? 

 confident ? easily frightened ? suspicious ? 

 dainty ? His attitude in the water tells you 

 much, if you can see him. You soon learn 

 that every trout, like every man, has his own 

 individual character, and on well-fished waters 

 he has personal experience superimposed on 

 hereditary instinct and caution. The character 

 of each trout remains constant, but his moods 

 vary. During the " morning " rise if there is 

 one, in these days of summer-time, when one 

 o'clock is really noon his mood is not the same 

 as it will be in the late afternoon, and during 

 the late evening rise it may again be quite 

 different. Always, if he shows by his move- 

 ments that he is taking an interest in his sur- 

 roundings, it is worth while to try to tempt 

 him. I have in mind a large trout, just over 

 three pounds in weight, that I hooked and lost 

 twice early in one season, and fished for inter- 

 mittently on occasional evenings for three 

 months afterwards. Sometimes he disappeared 

 after the first cast. Sometimes he came up 



