The Salmon 



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water. As the season advances the fish are more inclined to come 

 on, and the greater number of them come up the estuary with the 

 tide. At high tide, however, many fish turn and go down the river 

 on days most suitable for their travelling upstream. 



Taking the season as a whole, more fish are caught with the nets 

 on their way down the river than there are on their way up. From 

 May until the end of July fish coming up with the tide are far more 

 eager to push forward than those ascending at any other part of the 

 season, very few remaining in tidal water during summer. In the 

 early autumn, however, large numbers of fish coming up with the tide, 

 return to the estuary again, and remain there until the temperature of 

 the weather or the water induces them to push forward. Both high 

 winds and floods induce fish to move upstream. During August and 

 September floods need not be higher than from four to six feet to 

 bring them off the banks below. While they remain in the lower parts 

 of the river they lose their silvery appearance, become red in colour, and 

 show signs of the spawning season coming on them. Often when fish 

 are running well in a moderate -sized flood, and the river continues to 

 rise, they will cease running for the time being, or, in the words of the 

 fishermen, the high water " puts them back." The largest number run 

 when the river clears up, one day or, it may be, two days after the flood. 



Throughout spring most of our fish are caught on the sunny side 

 of the river, showing that they keep to this side. In the autumn, 

 again, they are got on both sides. I am inclined to think that fish 

 coming in from the sea, run up with the tide and fall back again as it 

 ebbs, and do not proceed up the river again until wind and water are 

 favourable for their pushing right forward. If this were not so, I am 

 afraid they would have little chance of escaping the nets, for on four 

 occasions during twenty-four hours and twenty-four times a week they 

 would run the risk of being caught. As a rule, when fish are collecting 

 in the estuary, it is chiefly the ones that have just come from the sea 

 that are caught by the nets, and very few red ones. The latter, how- 

 ever, are captured when a flood comes and they begin to leave the 

 banks. When everything is favourable for fish running, the best 



