584 OCEAN, LAKE, AND RIVER. 



these deep holes, because the current carries the food there ; and 

 ibr the same reason they are also to be found under the bank op- 

 posite to the wind. Where a river is divided by an island or patch 

 of weeds, a cast will be rewarded at the foot of the island at the 

 edge of the ripples. In spring the fish are much scattei ed, and 

 can be taken almost anywhere, as they are foraging for food, the 

 insects not yet having been hatched out. Later in the season the 

 trout's food is swept in plenty and variety to their dining-rooms in 

 the holes under the bank. And in autumn nature teaches them to 

 resort to the springheads and smaller tributaries for the purpose 

 of spawning. Trout feed chiefly at night, and hence are more 

 readily taken on dark and cloudy days, and between sunset and 

 dark. 



In using the fly the object is to imitate the movements of the 

 natural insect as nearly as possible, and the angler often exercises 

 great ingenuity in so doing. To drop the Une naturally on the 

 water, and then to keep it endued with life, is the stratagem. 

 From the moment the fly touches the water the angler should 

 keep his eye on it. Trout often feed a little under the surface ; 

 they do not always break when they rise, but quietly suck in the 

 fly. The angler can frequently detect a quick movement of a dark 

 object beneath the surface, or a sudden flash of light, which he 

 knows to be a fish making for the hook, and he instinctively raises 

 the tip of his rod and hooks it. A novice might have let a dozen 

 of these opportunities pass. Often the whereabouts of a trout is 

 betrayed by a break or a leap from the surface, and the \vide-awake 

 ngler will make it his business to toss his fly over the spot sooner 

 or later. Sometimes the trout rush at the lure like a flash, leaping 

 clear over it in their eagerness. They are difiicult to hook then. 

 A fish wiU hook hiynself only in cases where the fly first touches 

 the water at the end of a straight line, or when the line is being 

 withdrawn smartly for a new cast. In all other cases the skill of 

 the angler must be employed. If this " strike " be made with vigor 

 or desperately, either the trout will be jerked high in the air, the 

 tackle will be broken, the hook will tear out, or, what is more proba- 

 ble, the hook will miss altogether. Then the awkward effort wiU 

 scare the fish away, and the angler must proceed to another place. 

 How to hook a fish cannot be told ; but if the angler wiU school 



