58 THE WAY OF A TROUT WITH A FLY 



disentitle me to say much about it. But it seems to me 

 that the same principles which apply to the rise of trout 

 in slow or still waters in rivers must be found in action 

 in the case of trout in lakes. In my limited experience all 

 the big fish have seemed to be found as a general rule on 

 shelving ledges where the water ran from six to ten feet 

 deep, and they lie or cruise at the bottom and come up 

 with a slash at the fly. Often the only rises seen are 

 those which are evoked by the angler's flies; and it would 

 seem that the main food was at the bottom, but that 

 surface food, if sufficiently attractive, was not despised. 

 That would seem to account for the fact that lake flies 

 are dressed larger than corresponding river flies, for I 

 suppose experience has proved that the trout is unwilling 

 to come up far for a small fly. 



Occasionally, however, when the wind has dropped, trout 

 may be seen making small dimples on the surface of a lake ; 

 and I recall one such occasion when I picked up in a 

 morning six brace of fish approaching a pound average, 

 fishing a long line ending with a Greenwell's Glory, double- 

 dressed on gut with No. oo hooks, and cast behind the 

 eye of the fish, which again and again turned and took it 

 with the greatest innocence. 



So far in my observations I have dealt with the fish 

 taking the fly as food, and not from any other motive, 

 such as curiosity, tyranny, jealousy, rapacity, or pugnacity 

 (when the action is generally, even in fast water, more in the 

 nature of a strike than a rise) ; and I have not dealt with the 

 nature of the indications of the rise afforded to the fisherman 

 under differing circumstances — for to do that it is essential 

 to consider not only the position and convenience of the 

 trout and the nature of the water, but also the character 

 and condition or life stage of the food which the trout is 

 taking. For it will be found that different classes and 



