often the effect is as if a paint-brush dipped
in red paint had been drawn along the fish's side; the belly is silvery
white; the anal, ventral, and pectoral fins being coloured in proportion
to the colouring of the individual fish. The general appearance is very
striking, and in a fine specimen is certainly one of great beauty. When
fresh from the water and in brilliant sunshine the fish rivals the
object after which it is called; the living rainbow on its side shows a
play of delicate colour which it would be hard to surpass or to equal,
even in the heavens.

From the fly-fisherman's point of view the fish may be said to run up to
4lb. in weight; by which statement it is meant that the fly is readily
taken in both stream and lake by fish up to this size. Mr. F.J. Fulton,
of Kamloops, states that he has never landed a 5lb. fish on the fly, and
he is an authority on the Thompson River. Personally, I have never seen
a rainbow over 4lb. which I knew to have been caught with the fly; but
I have seen a model of a fish of 12lb. caught with the fly in 1891 in
Kamloops Lake by Captain Drummond. There is, of course, not the
slightest doubt that the fish grows to a much larger size. Mr. Walter
Langley caught a rainbow of 22-1/2lb. on a small spoon in Marble Canyon
Lake about May, 1900, and the photograph of this fish was published in
the _Field_. I have also seen very big specimens which had been speared
by Indians in the Thompson and sold as "salmon"; two of them I weighed
myself and found to be 15lb. and 12lb. respectively. While, therefore,
there is some evidence to show that these large fish may be caught with
spoon and minnow, it may be stated as a broad fact that the rainbow is
not often caught with the fly over the weight of 4lb., and that up to
this size he takes it freely.

The fly is taken best during the months of June and July, when there is
a rise of the stone fly in the rivers, and flies of all kinds are
plentiful in the lakes. At this time, indeed, natural fly seems to be
the main article of the fish's food. But the small fry of the salmon and
of its own species are also devoured in great numbers, and in late
summer there are grasshoppers as well; these are very plentiful, and are
eagerly snapped up as they fall into the water. No doubt a further
great source of food supply is the spawn of the salmon, which must be
very plentiful on the spawning beds. It forms the usual lure of the
Indian fishermen.

The feedin