FOREST AND STREAM 
153 
THE FINER ART OF TROUT FISHING 
II. WHERE TROUT LIE, AND WAYS TO CAPTURE THEM 
_; By LOUIS RHEAD. 
H AVING described last month in Forest 
and Stream the implements suitable 
for beginners in the finer art of trout 
fishing, the writer will undertake to de¬ 
scribe here his judgment as to the best 
method of approaching trout, to lure and 
to land them. 
Assuming the “amateur angler” is pre¬ 
pared with adequate outfit (and I use the 
word amateur in its broadest sense, who 
may be defined as one that wishes to learn, 
among whose ranks I place myself—the 
expert I think to be one who devotes much 
energy in picking fancied flaws from those 
who do not practice his own methods) he 
will have greater success if weather con¬ 
ditions are favorable: warm, hazy, with 
little wind. 
Let it be a day early in May, the river 
fairly full and quite clear. We approach 
the river about g o’clock. So early in the 
season insects are not rising till the sun 
is well up and the air fairly warm. Pre¬ 
vious to anything else it is wise to examine 
the nature of the water, before attention 
■is given to what insects are in flight. If the 
reader will carefully study the plan of 
“current formations” printed with this ar¬ 
ticle, it will doubtless be of assistance in 
guiding him how best and where to get 
quick response to the lure he casts, be it 
fly, worm or minnow, from either speckled, 
brown or rainbow trout. 
This plan is applicable to any swift-mov¬ 
ing trout stream. The small dots repre¬ 
sent bubbles floating along the surface, 
under which you will invariably find that 
trout lie. Because along with these bubbles, 
insects, dead and alive, float with the cur¬ 
rent, and right underneath where these 
runways go, trout abide for surface feed¬ 
ing. They are too wise to haunt that part 
of the river where few insects are; rest 
assured, trout are not so stupid. For that 
reason we should learn to study our be¬ 
loved recreation, in order to fish with the 
same intelligence that trout use, and not 
as some anglers do, by casting any¬ 
where and everywhere. I shall repeat later 
'the necessity for studying the flies to 
choose and use. 
DESCRIPTION of this plan of cur¬ 
rent formations will enable you to 
form a fair idea of the general haunts 
of trout, though they are invisible to you. 
The waterflow is from the bottom of the 
plan to its top. Therefore we begin at A, 
which is the end of a little rapid, or swift¬ 
er running portion of the current (depth 
three feet). Such water will contain a 
number of trout in locations similar to 
that indicated. At B we find the junction 
■of little rapids formed by water passing 
round an obstruction in the midst of the 
general current, also at a depth of three 
feet. At C a chain of bubbles or little 
floating objects indicates the course of the 
principal current; which, of course, is chief¬ 
ly dependent upon various directions of 
the water, or upon projecting rocks or 
banks, deep water passing swiftly along, 
and shoals. The latter may often be 
guessed at when not sufficiently visible, 
if you observe the water at turning points. 
At the roots of trees, or in places where 
the froth collects, and in little whirlpools 
and eddies as at G, trout will almost surely 
be found, in water from 4 to 10 feet deep. 
Such places are by far the most favorable 
for sport: for insects follow the same 
course as the bubbles, floating leaves and 
TYPICAL CURRENT FORMATIONS. 
Upper Insert Shows Bottom-rig for 
Minnows-Lower Insert, the “Rise.” 
sticks. Trout never frequent sandy shoals 
or shallow sandbars, as at I. The larger 
trout are most often found foraging flat 
shallows in a foot of water, after nightfall, 
chasing minnows and other small fish, as 
at D. But in the daytime the same local¬ 
ities are usually barren of fish. 
The greatest number of the large size 
trout gather together behind one another 
just below a swift rapid,,as at H, more so, 
if the water is 4 feet or more deep. In 
the day they are cautiously watching for 
food in deep holes, under hollow banks, 
roots of trees, or in the angle of rocks, as 
E, all more or less deep places. In May 
and June, when fish are strong and plump 
from overfeeding, they are also to be found 
in the more rapid parts of the water, as F, 
if it is two or more feet deep. 
These remarks, although not strictly ap¬ 
plicable to trout of all streams, will be 
found fairly accurate for any swift river 
in the temperate zone, east or west. The 
plan has been changed, or rather adapted 
to our use by tests, from one given in 
Ronald’s “Fly-fishers’ Entomology.” The 
bottom insect diagram shows how trout lie 
at the bottom, suddenly dart upwards for 
food and as quickly return to the same 
spot. The upper diagram gives the bottom 
rig I use for live and artificial minnow 
fishing. A half ounce lead is tied to the 
end of the line, with a 3-foot gut leader 
fastened 18 inches above the lead on the 
line. It is good for either worms or gen¬ 
tles. 
W E should now be familiar with places 
where trout lie, and to scan the sur¬ 
face for insects we saunter along 
the left bank from the three trees at F, 
about 200 yards to the arrow. The river 
at this place is 75 feet wide and the run¬ 
way from A to C on the right bank is 
the place for our first effort. Strolling 
along we see in thick flight, the brown 
drake, shadfly, redbug, cowdung and black 
ant. For various reasons the brown drake 
is chosen, but mainly because it’s a good 
floater—a favorite with the angler as with 
the fish. 
Tyjng it on the end of the leader to fish 
dry with a single fly, we step in the water 
at exactly the spot of the feather end of 
the arrow, to cast up the stream to the 
large fish at A on the right bank. Taking 
the greatest care not to wet your fly, you 
unwind the line after starting the fly 
on its journey back and forth in the air 
above you, till your fifty foot line-mark is 
reached, then slowly lower the tip, point¬ 
ing exactly at the fish. If you know how 
to do it, the fly will cock and float along 
with the bubbles; meanwhile have the rod 
in the left hand, and move the arm so that 
the tip follows after the fly, to avoid the 
line dragging under water. With your right 
hand, reel in surplus line till the fly sails 
near you, then whip it sharply in the air 
again, to make two more similar casts be¬ 
fore quitting the spot. 
Should you, however, be fortunate to 
get a rise to the fly from a big fish, do 
not strike, but gently raise the tip. The 
impact of almost every large fish is suffi¬ 
cient in force to fasten the hook, especial¬ 
ly so with a brown or rainbow trout. 
When the fish leaps, lower the tip slightly, 
but keep the line taut all the time. After 
the first or second leap, and you feel the 
fish is secure, back slowly out from the wa- 
