SPECKLED TROUT 



in a trout country the true angler could take trout, 

 and that the great secret was this, that, whatever bait 

 you used, worm, grasshopper, grub, or fly, there was 

 one thing you must always put upon your hook, 

 namely, your heart : when you bait your hook with 

 your heart the fish always bite; they will jump clear 

 from the water after it; they will dispute with each 

 other over it; it is a morsel they love above every- 

 thing else. With such bait I have seen the born 

 angler (my grandfather was one) take a noble string 

 of trout from the most unpromising waters, and 

 on the most unpromising day. He used his hook so 

 coyly and tenderly, he approached the fish with such 

 address and insinuation, he divined the exact spot 

 where they lay: if they were not eager, he humored 

 them and seemed to steal by them; if they were 

 playful and coquettish, he would suit his mood to 

 theirs; if they were frank and sincere, he met them 

 halfway ; he was so patient and considerate, so en- 

 tirely devoted to pleasing the critical trout, and so 

 successful in his efforts, surely his heart was upon 

 his hook, and it was a tender, unctuous heart, too, as 

 that of every angler is. How nicely he would mea- 

 sure the distance ! how dexterously he would avoid 

 an overhanging limb or bush and drop the line ex- 

 actly in the right spot! Of course there was a pulse 

 of feeling and sympathy to the extremity of that 

 line. If your heart is a stone, however, or an empty 

 husk, there is no use to put it upon your hook; it 

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