LAKE AND STREAM 215 



said to be the mightiest of animals. All 

 this time, nigh half a minute, our fisher- 

 man has been watching the line. In the 

 question of when to strike a very com- 

 plex tangle of considerations is involved. 

 What he is to strike is the most serious 

 of all. It may be an eel ; it may be a 

 trout not larger than a herring ; as fish of 

 all sizes are susceptible to the attractions 

 of a worm, it may be the monarch of the 

 stream. 



Does not this explain the delight of 

 the time when the summer floods are 

 out ? Frequently during the day all the 

 pleasurable excitements possible in the 

 sport are wrapt in a few tense seconds 

 that feel much more. Indeed, recollected 

 in long retrospect, the joys of a good day 

 in a June flood seem almost to cover a 

 season. 



It is natural to expect that when the 

 stream has cleared fly-fishing will be 

 much better than it was before the rain ; 

 but this hope is not always justified by 

 the event. In lakes a rise of water 



