164 
FOREST AND STREAM 
April, 1919 
TROUT AND WATER CONDITIONS 
MANY A FISH RETAINS ITS FREEDOM BECAUSE OF A LACK OF DISCRIMINATION ON 
THE PART OF THE ANGLER IN HIS METHODS OF FISHING DIFFERENT STREAMS 
BY ERNEST WARREN BROCKWAY 
F ishing for 
brook trout 
differs from 
every other kind of 
fishing in many 
ways. No other 
kind of angling re- 
quires so much stu- 
dy of water condi- 
tions and of the 
habits of the fish. 
In sea and lake 
and river fishing 
the condition and 
the action of the 
waters in these re- 
spective bodies is 
the same, or near- 
ly so, at all times. 
But as to brooks, 
they are about as 
variable as the 
climate of New 
England. They are 
variable in two ways — in formation and 
in the changes wrought in them by 
means of weather conditions. In this 
article I shall point out these differences 
and the way trout act in accordance 
herewith as I have observed them — act 
regarding their capture of course. 
I am fully convinced that many fine 
trout retain their freedom because of a 
lack of discrimiation on the part of the 
angler in his methods of procedure in 
different streams. If more attention 
were given to this phase of the sport and 
less to color schemes in flies, far better 
results would follow. Does not one’s rea- 
soning powers dictate that the fishing of 
a noisy, tumbling, 
hillside brook 
should differ radi- 
cally from the fish- 
ing of a slow-flow- 
ing and serene 
meadow stream? 
While this is an 
extreme compari- 
son in the make-up 
of brooks, there 
are other compari- 
sons equally ap- 
pealing of consid- 
eration to the an- 
gler who would 
score success. 
There is the big 
brook and the lit- 
tle brook: the open 
brook and the 
A small hillside brook with many bushes offers little opportunity for casting 
brook canopied by bushes ; the deep brook 
and the shallow brook; the brook filled 
with boulders and the brook free from 
boulders — yes, there are all of these and 
many more. Can’t you see how the water 
conditions vary from those of the sea, 
the lake and the river? 
A HILLSIDE brook contains but lit- 
tle still water and invariably, 
trees and bushes are found in 
abundance along the banks. Conse- 
quently, the angler hasn’t much of an op- 
portunity for casting either fly or bait. 
I have known anglers who were such 
rigid adherents to casting that they 
If it’s a big brook and you can’t cast, jump right in and wade 
would consume 
many hours in this 
method of fishing 
on such a brook, 
whereas if they 
had used different 
tactics they would 
have gone home at 
night with light 
hearts and heavy 
creels, rather than 
with heavy hearts 
and light creels. 
These anglers 
failed to discrimi- 
nate, you see. Be- 
cause previously 
they had been fish- 
ing streams unob- 
structed by trees 
and bushes and be- 
cause they were so 
“creed - bound,” 
casting wise, they 
blindly pursued methods of other days 
and other bi’ooks which brought them 
success. 
To me it seems an absurdity for any 
angler to believe it unsportsmanlike to 
fish for brook trout by any method other 
than casting. If trout were stupid fish 
then it would be different. But when, as 
every experienced angler knows, a sly old 
trout will oftentimes repeatedly outwit 
every bit of skill that the most efficient 
angler employs, I fail to see any violation 
of the “ethics” of the art by trying to 
bring such a fish to creel by methods 
other than casting. How often have I 
heard fishermen remark that in fly-cast- 
ing, especially the 
dry-fly, a trout has 
more of a chance 
for his life than if 
a worm or a grass- 
hopper or some 
other kind of nat- 
iUral bait were 
used. But don’t 
worry about a lack 
of caution on the 
part of any fair- 
sized brook trout; 
don’t be deluded in 
thinking that be- 
cause a fat and 
wriggling worm is 
dangling about the 
mouth of Mr. Trout 
he has undergone 
a demolition of his 
