Arthur. — On the Brown Trout introduced inio Otago. 497 



one o'clock the trout would not look at minnow, but I killed a large fish, 

 4^ lbs., with fly, and also some smaller ones. I remember, subsequently, in 

 the Deep Stream, above the Strath crossing, plenty of water and a north- 

 west gale blowing, fishing two days, or rather, parts of two days. On both 

 days I used exactly the same fly, cast with three flies on. The stretcher 

 had on it a creeper, first dropper, which was black hackle, a gentle, and top 

 dropper bare. The one day I killed seven trout, all with the hackle and 

 gentle, and but one, a 2 lb. fish, which was on the creeper. The other day 

 I got five trout, every one on the creeper, and which weighed nearly 15 lbs. 

 gross, the water being rather clearer. 



The alteration in the time of daily feeding, from that observed at Home 

 among the trout is puzzling, and angling alone may not disclose all the 

 facts. Still, a very superficial observer of nature must admit that as yet 

 our streams possess a much greater food- supply, and more variety in it, 

 than the streams of the Old Country do. The more open winters we 

 experience will likewise permit a certain amount of insect life to come 

 within reach of feeding trout, and so prevent these getting much reduced in 

 condition. These two circumstances are sufficient to show, that, possess- 

 ing more available food than their ancestral stock, our trout do not require 

 to be so constantly feeding, and when so engaged have the extra temptation 

 of variety, to make them as capricious as we find them. So, therefore, they 

 choose their own time for satisfying their hunger, and select different food 

 at short intervals. But why mid-day should be preferred by them as their 

 banqueting hour is not so readily explained as their not feeding in early 

 morning or in the evening, which I have proved to be mainly owing to the 

 coldness of the air at these times. It is probable, however, that as most 

 insect life will be on the water during the warmest part of the day, it is then, 

 of course, that feeding trout show most on the surface, while at other times 

 they may be busy grubbing on the bottom for larvse and shellfish, in the 

 absence of the more dainty surface diet. That the air immediately in con- 

 tact with the stream must have had a certain quantity of heat and light 

 imparted to it from the morning sun before trout will rise, I have seen 

 attested, by the trout beginning to take hours sooner on an open part of the 

 river than they did on a portion shut in by rocky gorges from the sun's rays. 

 Eepeated examples of this have convinced me of the fact. These remarks 

 must be understood to apply to ordinary states of most of our rivers. When 

 in flood, our trout do not take readily, nor, indeed, till the river has fallen 

 to a certain state. It is very likely at such times the fish are partly driven 

 from their haunts by the strength of the stream, and partly, are feeding on 

 the bottom on insect larvse, which the disturbance of the gravel there has 

 revealed to their keen eyesight. 

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