Conditions which Goyeen Biting op Fish. 317 



feeding, or "biting," by certain laws, as unchanging as 

 those of the Medes and Persians ; and that tliese immutable 

 laws have an outward expression in certain states and con- 

 ditions of weather and water ; and that it is only necessary 

 to ascertain the peculiar combination of wind, weather and 

 water, under which fish feed, nolens volens, to be able to 

 effect their capture easily. 



The glorious uncertainty attending the " biting " of fish, 

 even at apparently favorable times, has been observed for 

 ages, and has invested the gentle art with a glamour, and 

 an air of mystery, in which the element of chance, or luck, 

 is a prominent feature. The angler wending his way 

 homeward is accosted at every turn with the interrogatory 

 of, " What luck ? " while " fisherman's luck " has become 

 an universal synonym of failure. 



Many anglers, in lieu of more cogent reasons, have con- 

 veniently relegated this whole question to "luck," and 

 have ceased to trouble themselves much about it, taking 

 the good with the bad, in a spirit of calm philosophy or in 

 meek submission to the inevitable. 



Even while engaged in solitary angling, so conducive to 

 quiet meditation, the habits and idiosyncrasies of fish do 

 not often occupy our thoughts, but other and wholly irrele- 

 vant themes. And even with all the information that can 

 be obtained, by' close and careful observation of the habits 

 of fishes, and the nature of their surroundings, there is 

 still left much to be explained, and some things that seem 

 to be beyond our comprehension, which we might safely 

 leave to chance or luck, until we understand them better. 



And perhaps it is best so,- for there has ever been a de- 

 lightful uncertainty attending the angler's art, and therein 

 lies one of its chiefest charms; for while it stimulates the 

 angler to renewed effort, it consoles him in defeat. The 



