GROWING THE LARGE TROUT. 24! 



heats up so as to require the application of ice, in any 

 but very exceptional instances I should say select 

 another place for your operations. Ice may save the 

 fish, but it is paying too dear for the whistle, and it is 

 coming a little too near danger to be desirable. 



4. Handle the fish carefully. Handle the fish care- 

 fully when you have occasion to handle them at all, 

 which will not be often, except in sorting, in moving 

 from one pond to another, and in spawning. It makes 

 a great difference in handling and carrying trout 

 whether it is hot or cold weather. In winter you can 

 do almost anything with them, short of using actual 

 violence, without killing them ; but in very hot weather 

 in summer, when they are fat and the water is warm, 

 they actually seem to die before they are hurt. 



Rough handling is very often the cause of death ; 

 but it is a very unnecessary and inexcusable cause. 

 All the handling that needs to be done can, ninety-nine 

 times in a hundred, be done without hurting the fish. 

 The suggestions given in the chapter on spawning 

 trout will perhaps be a sufficient guide on this point. 

 I would by all means dissect at least one fish, and find 

 where the vitals lie, and just how the viscera are 

 packed together inside. You will find you can, by 

 practice, squeeze a fish very hard, if you know where 

 the vitals are, without killing it. Always be careful 

 not to scrape off the slime from the skin, for where 

 the slime is off fungus will grow, and the result is 

 death. 



5. Keep your trout well sorted. I know that it is 

 often said, " Feed your trout well, and they will not eat 



