Sea -Trout 



161 



sale for them. They are sold in the open market, too, all through the 

 spring, and anglers are allowed to catch them. In some rivers the 

 autumn months are the best for 

 catching them, while in others they 

 take more freely in the spring. 

 In the Tay and the Earn spring 

 is the best time. On one occasion, 

 on the roth March, I caught with 

 fly eighty of them, averaging three- 

 quarters of a pound in weight. 

 The largest, which scaled one and 

 a quarter pounds, is the largest 

 I have ever caught. In July, 

 August, and September thousands 

 of small whitling are caught and 

 called sea-trout. These would be 

 better left in the river, as they 

 are little better than smolts. If 

 this were done the number of sea- 

 trout would soon greatly increase. 



From what has been said it 

 will be seen that the habits of the 

 sea-trout differ widely from those 

 of the salmon, and these differ- 

 ences may be summed up as 

 follows :-- (i) The sea -trout 

 comes into fresh water nearly a 

 year before the grilse of the 

 salmon. (2) It feeds in fresh 

 water, which the salmon does not. 

 (3) It does not spawn on its first 

 return to fresh water. After the 

 whitling goes to sea it remains there for three or four months, and 



comes up as a sea-trout from i to 2^- Ibs., according to the length of 



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