Fish Study 167 



dorsal fin? What color are the pectoral fins and how are they placed in 

 relation to the gill arches? 



6. Describe the trout's eyes. Are they large and alert? Do you 

 think the trout is keen-sighted ? 



7. When and where are the eggs laid? Describe how the nest is 

 made. How are the eggs covered and protected? 



8. Why are there no trout in the streams of your neighborhood? 

 Could a trout live in these streams? Can you get state aid in stocking the 

 streams? 



9. What are the game laws concerning trout fishing? When is the 

 open season? How long must the trout be to be taken legally? If you 

 are a good citizen what do you do about the game laws? 



10. Write a story telling all you know about the wariness, cunning 

 and strength of the brook trout. 



Supplementary reading — The following from Fish Stories by Holder 

 and Jordan: "The Trout of Los Laurelles," "The Golden Trout of the 

 High Sierras;" "The Lure of the Rainbow." "The Story of the Salmon" in 

 Science Sketches, "The Master of the Golden Pool" in Watchers of the 

 Trails; The Story of the Fishes, Baskett; Neighbors with Wings and 

 Fins, Johonnet. 



TROUT 



"It is well for anglers not to make troul, oj all fishes, the prime objective of a day's 

 sport, as no more uncertain game loves the sunlight. Today he is yours for the very 

 asking; tomorrow, the most luscious Lure will not tempt him. One hour he defies you, 

 the next, gazes at you from some ensconcement of the fishes, and knows you not, as you 

 pass him, casting, by. 



I believe I accumulated some of this angling wisdom years ago, in a certain trout 

 domain in New England, where there were streams and pools, ripples, cascades and 

 drooping trees; where everything was fair and promising to the eyes for trout; but it 

 required superhuman patience to lure them, and many a day I scored a blank. Yet on 

 these very days when lures were unavailing, the creel empty save for fern leaves, I found 

 they were not for naught; that the real fishing day was a composite of the weather, the 

 wind, even if it was from the east, the splendid colors of forest trees, the blue tourmaline 

 of the sky that topped the stream amid the trees, the flecks of cloud mirrored on the sur- 

 face. The delight of anticipation, the casting, the play of the rod, the exercise of skill, the 

 quick turns in the steam opening up new vistas, the little openings m the forest, through 

 which were seen distant meadmvs and nodding flowers — all these went to make up the real 

 trout fishing, the actual catch being but an incident among many delights. 



Just how long one could be content with mere scenery in lieu of trout, I am not pre- 

 pared to say, if pushed to the wall. I confess that when fishing I prefer trout to scenic 

 effects. Still, it is a very impracticable and delightful sentiment with some truth to it, 

 the moral being that the angler should be resourceful, and not be entirely cast down on the 

 days when the wind is in the cast 



I am aware that this method of angling is not in vogue with some, and would be 

 deemed fanciful, indeed inane, by many more: yet it is based upon a true and hcmely 

 philosophy, not of today, the philosophy of patience and contentment. "How poor are 

 they that have not patience," said Othello. It is well to be content with things as we fi.nd 

 them, and it is well to go a-fishing, not to catch fish alone, but every offering the day has 

 to give. This should be an easy matter for the angler, as Walton tells us that A ngling is 

 somewhat tike poetry, men are to be born so." 



— Fish Stories, Jordan and Holder. 



