CLASSES OF CONDITIONS 129 



At all times during the season trout are seen leaping 



into the air, and on some days 

 Trout jumping. the number of fish indulging 



in this form of athletics is 

 quite remarkable. What their object may be is more 

 or less a matter of conjecture. Certainly they are not 

 feeding, and the opinion frequently expressed that 

 they are trying to kill or shake off the parasites 

 adhering to their skin by jumping and falling on the 

 water is open to question. As a rule the days on 

 which the trout are behaving in this fashion are not 

 favourable ones for the dry-fly fisherman. Small fish 

 will at times jump at sedges and other flies just above 

 the surface. 



When trout are feeding they will sometimes rise 



fairly well and take a fly, then 

 Trout rising and move upstream a few yards, 



travelling. take another fly, continue their 



journey, repeating the opera- 

 tion many times. It will be apparent to one who 

 watches them carefully that generally they seem to 

 occupy a beat of specific length. When they have 

 arrived at the top of their beat they will drop back, 

 usually tail first, down to the point at which they 

 started. They may be seen to repeat this perform- 

 ance many times. If the angler follows such a fish up 

 and keeps casting he will infallibly scare it when it is 

 dropping downstream to the lower end of its beat. 

 This is not a favourable condition, and the fisherman 

 is advised to abstain from throwing over fish behaving 



