Conditions which Govern Biting of Fish. 323 



As predacious fishes then feed mostly by night, we would 

 naturally expect to find them at that time where their food 

 was most plentiful; and this is really the case, for I have 

 observed that they were always near the shores or on the 

 shallows at night, in water so shallow, in fact, that their 

 dorsal fins were often out of the water. Any one who 

 will take the trouble to proceed cautiously along the shores 

 at night, with a lantern, can verify this statement. 



It is well known that the last few hours of daylight are 

 the best for fly-fishing, which I account for by the fact that 

 the fish are then approaching the shallows and shores in 

 their nightly search for food; and as they only rise to the 

 fly in comparatively shallow water, the conditions are thus 

 more favorable for the fly-fisher. 



The hypothesis, then, that game-fishes feed mostly at 

 night and rest or sleep by day, and that it is only the few 

 that failed to fully satisfy their appetites the night before 

 that are apt to respond to the wiles of the angler, is quite 

 a reasonable one, and one that will account for much of 

 the "bad luck" of the angler. 



As before stated, there is much that can be learned by 

 closely observing the habits of fish, the character of their 

 haunts, and the nature and variety of their food; so as to 

 enable the angler to know, so far as can be known, when 

 and where to find the fish at certain seasons, or at different 

 stages of the water ; when they are most inclined to " bite ;" 

 and to know, approximately, what bait to use. 



This information can be acquired in no other way but 

 by patient and continued observation; and, without it, all 

 is guess-work. It is just as essential to the angler to know 

 where to fish, as to know how. If he has a fair knowledge 

 of the habits of game-fish, he can at once seek out the most 

 likely places, on lake or stream, by seeming intuition. 



