CHAPTER VI 



UNCLASSIFIED 



OF HOVERING AND SOARING, AND OF CRUISING 



TROUT. 



The trout that is glued to the bottom is generally 

 a pretty hopeless fish. He is either not wilhng to 

 feed, or, being willing, his suspicions have been 

 aroused and he has gone down. Pretty stories 

 are told of how such fish are occasionally startled 

 into taking by the fly being slammed down with 

 violence on or just behind their heads, but no such 

 instance has come within my experience. 



But the trout which is hovering in mid-water 

 or near the surface is always a hopeful subject. 

 Anglers will tell you he is willing to feed. In my 

 belief, he is more than that ; he is generally actively 

 feeding — under water. 



I remember a trout which lay in the same hole 

 with six grayling. He was hovering not far below 

 the surface, but would have nothing to say to a 

 series of dry flies of appropriate pattern offered 

 him ; but a wet Greenwell's Glory was too much 

 for him, and he turned and took it first cast. He 



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