By the time the fry have dropped
down-stream they will be nicely grown
little fish, able to look after themselves if



LAKES 123

they have any chance at all, and once in
the deep waters of the lake they will not
be much molested, because at that season
of the year food is plentiful for the older
trout, or ought to be, so that, with the
exception of the hardened cannibals who
guard the streams, the fish in the lake
are not particularly on the hunt for fry.
Perhaps some one may ask : Why not
turn the fry into the lake straight from
the hatchery, and so save trouble ? The
answer is that if the lake already contain
trout, it is the worst plan possible. The
fry at this stage are very young and
helpless, without any idea of danger.
They will lie about unconcernedly in the
shallows or sink to the bottom if turned
out in deeper water from a boat, and the
first prowling enemy which comes along
has them at his mercy. There are not
only trout, but also eels, caddis-worms,
and beetles — to say nothing of birds and
other creatures — which wUl devour them.
The fry need running water for their
development and for their safety. Though



124 TROUT WATERS

all sorts of dangers exist in a stream,
they are at home there and soon on the
alert ; whereas turned adrift in a lake
they are lost — the still water affects them
badly, and they remain sluggish. Indeed,
it is questionable whether fry turned into
deep, still water ever do any good at aU.
To take them from the hatchery to the
lake is to miss out a stage in their develop-
ment which Nature has ordained.
