WESTERN TROUT-FISHING 281 



can live through the winter, and where they can only 

 be successfully hunted by laborious work on foot. 



One of the main features, as I have said, of this 

 particular hunting-trip was the trout-fishing. After 

 the first day we left Green River behind us, it is 

 true ; but everywhere through the mountains where 

 we roamed were crystal-clear streams fairly well 

 stocked with trout, of which I took sufficient toll 

 to keep the larder well supplied. We were four 

 able-bodied men, for whom a certain amount of fish 

 diet was voted to be absolutely necessary, and so 

 many a subsequent fishing picnic was undertaken. 

 In many of the pools I fished I doubt if the trout 

 had ever seen an artificial fly, and their consequent 

 voracity was highly interesting. The water, as a 

 rule, was so clear that I could often see the trout 

 before I caught them. It was, of course, necessary 

 to keep out of sight. If this condition was duly 

 observed, I found that a fish that was moving here 

 and there in a pool or stream, obviously on the look- 

 out for food, would always come like a tiger at my 

 fly. Occasionally, in the first headlong rush, he 

 missed it. When this happened, it was only neces- 

 sary to wait a few moments, and then cast over him 

 again, when the fly would usually be taken with 

 savage greediness. 



On the other hand, if trout were lying motionless 

 on the bottom, as I often saw them, no fly would 

 move them. They were in this case not feeding, 

 and apparently asleep. 



As an instance of their voracity, it is worth men- 

 tioning that one day Sandy, who used to clean the 

 trout on the bank directly they were caught, took 

 from a fish of under 3 pounds in weight a small 



