The Salmon 59 



(Fig. 49). Grilse often spawn with salmon, sea-trout with grilse, and 

 trout with sea-trout, in a season favourable for fish running up. 



Most of the spawning is over by the end of December, although 

 after a severe winter I have seen salmon spawning in March. If a 

 fish exceeds the time for spawning it becomes bright in colour in the 

 same way as the kelts do, and is then called a " rawner " (Fig. 51). 

 Rawners are sometimes got in the middle of summer, but I have 

 never been able to see one of these fish attempt to spawn. As the 

 bright colour comes on, too, they improve in condition. One can always 

 tell whether they are rawners by holding them up by the tail, for then 

 the spawn will run towards the head. After the male and the female 

 have completed the process of spawning they fall back into the pools, 

 and many of them, more especially the males, become sick and die. 

 The mortality during the first month after spawning is greater than in 

 any other month of the year. During a heavy flood many of them are 

 carried down, lose control of themselves, and soon die, and can be 

 seen in thousands cast up along the banks of most of our rivers. The 

 survivors, if they do not at once return to the sea, remain in the pools 

 from three to four months, assume a silvery dress, and become as strong 

 as clean fish before they return to the sea. In small rivers and the 

 head-waters of large ones fish often return to the sea as soon as they 

 have completed spawning. Most of the fish, however, go down in 

 March and April. A little freshet takes them down in large numbers, 

 and in some seasons, when the river is so low that they are pre- 

 vented from getting down, they remain in the river all summer. 



When kelts are in poor condition they are easily known from 

 clean fish, but as the season advances and they improve in shape and 

 colour it is more difficult to tell them. They nearly always have a 

 few maggots in their gills, their fins and tails are usually ragged and 

 larger than those of a clean fish, and the vent always protrudes. 

 Kelts out of condition are not fit for food, but what the fishermen 

 call " well-mended kelts " before they return to the sea are much 

 better for eating than a dark-coloured fish caught in October. In 

 describing the scales I will show how one may tell at a glance whether 



