The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-10-01
TROUT BEFORE STORM.
Some Reasons Why He Does Not Rise
 at Flies-Exceptlonal Salmon.

Some Reasons Why He Does Not Rise at Flies-TGxceptional Salmon.
 The other day. in casual conversa- ton, an eminent naturalist touched up- on the well-known fact that trout never rise freely during the time of | dangerous atmosphere which precedes. a thunder storm myself had thought that the cause of the fish lying low was the lack of oxygen in the water. The naturalist replied: T would, he said, admit your theory to be con- ceivably correct If it were not that have one of my own. Yours seems to fall in with the facts all right, but so does mine. Mine simply is that the reason why trout don't rise freely for an hour or two hours before thunder or even for q longer time, is that there are then no flies on the water, or very few. Usually there is great heat before thunder storm. The heat accelerates l the hatching of the Insect egs, the flies fiutter up from the bed of the stream I and the reeds by the side prematurely | Thus before thunder there is lapse in the orderly rise of tlies. Nature for a short time Is in advance of herself She has exhausted her stores.'
 That was a striking theory. It seem ed so reasonable that at first 1 was disposed to acquiesce, but few mo- 1nents' thought showed that it involved some questionable assertions.
 "I understand" said I, that some times, when the temperature is abnor- nally low, the egs of aquatic insects do really hatch out in due course, but that the young flies, being enfeebled by the cold, die before they reach the surface?"
 That Is so,' said my friend. Tt is on such occasions that the wet fly is astonishingly successful, even on what are known as dry fly streams. Feeding on the torpid insects that are being carried down stream below the surface the trout take sunk artificial flies also" | Well. then. as it is certain that q Temperature abnormally low presents a lhatohing out of insects eggs in the complete sense, is it not conceivable that temperature abnormally high may have the same effect?"
 Dear me! 1 never thought of that the naturalist answered Why, yes; it l is conceivable. In fact it is probable.
 Yet the salmon is not affected by the prethunder influence. May this be held to indicate that the prethunder 1 influence Is not so potent among the creatures in the water as 1t is among l the creatures above.
 Tt might" said the naturalist; but the salmon, think. is in a different lclass. He finds the greater part of the sustenance not to the river but in the sea. When he leaves the sea he is So l highly nourished, so fat. that he can live in the river, even if he finds no food there for many months. Some say that when he rises at an artificial | fly or takes nlinnow, he is only amus- Ing himself, or giving way to irrigation
 Well, then, it may be that, being ex- uherant in vitality from his feasting in the sea he Is not readily affected by the eilervating atmosphere as the truth is." ig}
 "Ah! Ehervating atn1osphere!" is not that a concession? If the pre- thunder atmosphere is enervating to the trout, other phenomena, such as the absence of flies and the possible ab- sence of worms. though very interest ling in themselves are apart from the