Almost immediately, Nick has another strike, and after some struggling, he brings this trout into his net. Nick then spreads the "mouth of the sack and [looks] down at the two big trout alive in the water." He concludes that they are good trout.
After Nick eats his sandwiches, he sits and watches the river; then he kills and dresses the two trout. Both are males because each is exuding "milt," a substance found only in male fish. Nick returns to camp completely satisfied and looks forward to the days to come when he will fish the swampy areas, as he steadily moved downstream into deeper water today.
Nick's steady progress downstream into deeper water leads him to reach a point in the river that intersects the present moment: His wish for something to read. This return to thinking and cerebral pursuits indicates a mental rejuvenation. It isn't a total rejuvenation, because Nick has yet to fish in the swamp, but it is a rejuvenation that indicates to the reader that Nick's recovery is well underway.
