St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1891-05-21
MISCELLANY
SCIENTIFIC TROUTING.

ed the spot, you loop on golden
pheasant" for ''stretcher," gov
ernor" for 'coaxer," and coach
man" for a ''dropper, and then
sneak Eyes "sneak" is the proper
word here) cautiously toward the
spot" Noiselessly and skilfully
whip out your line to the desired
length, and with a quick, graceful
motion of the wrist make your first
"grasshopper" cast. A half-pounder
swirls toward your drop-hy, breaks
the water enough to indicate his
size to your practiced eye, and is
gone. An electric thrill shoots
through your elbows and darts along
your spine. With a quick motion
you retrieve your line and cast again,
but not there now-anywhere else
for a minute or two-giving him
time to regret his loss of that fat fly
now cast there again, che-chug che
r-r-r-y you have him! Watching and
waiting, the instant your fly struck
the water he took it with a spring
that carried him more than foot in
the air, with the hook in his mouth,
or it may have been taken before the
fly struck the water at all. Of course
you struck lightly. but as quickly as
possible always do so with a fly;
you cannot strike too quick worm
or bait they may gorge if you wait
and give them time. but an artificial
fly, never The moment the trout
seizes the artificial fly it is as far in
his mouth or throat as it ever will be,
therefore it is sound to repeat, you
Il r.
have seen or felt the trout.
Having fairly hooked him, and be-
lieving there are more like him in the
same pool, lead him gently and noise
lessly away where you can give him
play, and finally land him with your
net and deposit him safely in your
creel Be particularly careful not to
"slosh around" and scare every
trout within 10 rods of you. The
cool and skilled sportsman will often
take from 1 to 20 out of the same
trout hole" in the same day.
Having done" that pool, glide
cautiously down to the rifles"
and eddies, behind the powders that
are likely to be there, cast in the best
places first, and then cover the whole
81
tried You will in this way soon
learn whether the trout are that day
in the pool or on the rifles, or scat
tered along in both. When the dis
covery is made, work the ground ac-
cordingly. The reasons for always
fishing down the stream Especially
if the brook or river be a rapid one).
are SO numerous and palpable that
they need not be recounted here.
When the water is unusually low
and the day clear, seek the deep pools
and shady hiding places. But when
the water is at medium hight, just
after rain, the trout are apt to lie
close along the earth banks, where
they search for the worms which the
moisture brings to the surface Of the
soils to be washed away and carried
along by the rapid stream, and COB
BILE them up as they wriggle by.
Fish slow, never be in hurry, eX-
cept when you are tired and it is II
O'Clock, beautiful grass island just
ahead of you and your friend, who
carries the Refreshments, is sitting
there waiting for you. If trout are
plenty but do not rise, change your
flies and tactics until they do, or fail
ing in that, wind up and go home
and smoke your pipe. 1t is an off
day, and to persist without change
of weather is waste of time. In
rapid streams use long rub
Der boots for wading, to the soles of
which are fitted and securely fasten-
ed sole leather sandals, in which hob
nails are thickly riveted, or hObnail !
ed brogans with wading stockings
of rubber cloth, to keep you from
on the Shiny pebbles and
rocks.
Have your landing net staff hollow,
extra tip, and screw into the butt
end to keep the tip dry, and in its
place tight-htting stopper with
thread above and below the shoulder;
and beyond the shoulder and thread |
form a steel spike, to hold you steady
in the swift current and on the |
rocks while wading. When |
not used in wading reverse the stop |
per, inserting the spike in the tube,
using the thread on that side of the
shoulder to hold it in its place. You
will use your head as well as your
and a thousand and one nice
points will soon be learned and be-
come part and parcel of your ang
ling culture, and will tend largely to
enhance your pleasure and to fill
YOUR creel.
The common brook trout deposit
their spawn in the gravelly beds of
the streams in the autumn months,
while the mountain or California
trout spawn in the spring, and SO
rapid is their growth that in three
years, all things being favorable,
their size may reach to 10 ounces
and afford attractive sport for the
angler and delicious breakfast for
he epicure. They should be wiped
clean of slime, rolled in corn meal or
-four, fried quick and brown in a
1T tie very hot lard or butter, season.