GROWING THE LARGE TROUT. 223 



brooks, certain individuals will take up particular 

 holes or rapids for their abode, and occupy them for 

 months, and sometimes, I am inclined to think, for 

 years. 



In lakes and ponds, the shoals of trout have, like 

 perch and other fish, particular resting-places, where 

 they stay regularly. This is one reason why a person 

 acquainted with their haunts will go out and catch a 

 string of trout, while others, with better tackle and 

 equal skill, will fish a whole day for them in vain. 



The largest trout in brooks are found in the deep 

 wide pools in the warmer waters. The smallest ones are 

 found in the cold, narrow mountain rivulets near their 

 source. The largest brook trout of all are found in 

 large lakes, where range, space, feed, warmth of water, 

 and perhaps inherited tendencies, all combine to pro- 

 duce a large race. 



Trout, like other fishes, have small brains compared 

 with the higher animals, and are very slightly sensi- 

 tive to pain. 



They have a rapid digestion, which, though not 

 equal to that of a pickerel,* and some warm-water 

 fishes, makes them susceptible to very quick growth 

 indeed under favorable circumstances. Trout have 

 this peculiarity also, that they vary from one another 

 in their personal appearance to an endless degree. 

 No two trout are alike. Every trout has its individual 

 markings, as much as human beings, which distin- 



* Most fish have a rapid digestion. Bertram compares the 

 digestion of some to the action of fire. Harvest of the Sea, 

 p. 4. 



