Loch Leven Trout 



235 



and are therefore not fit to stock any water. Such trout do not feed 

 well and remain dwarfed. The better able a trout is to swim quickly 

 through the water, the more food it will be able to catch. 



In April, when feeding on flies, Loch Leven trout travel through 

 the water at the rate of about 2 miles an hour, their speed gradually 

 increasing till July, when it reaches about 3 miles an hour. They 

 travel from 6 to 18 inches under the surface, sucking clown one 

 fly after another, and usually heading upwind. Their habits, however, 

 are different in a stream. They usually choose a certain spot and 

 remain there, often rising for weeks at the flies floating down. This 

 is why dry-fly fishing is practised on streams. The angler sees a fish 

 rise, and casts his fly almost over the ring it made ; did he do this 

 on a loch the trout would be yards away by the time his fly alighted, 

 and would not see it. 



During cold weather the trout leave the shallows and go 

 into deep water, where they remain during winter. When spring 

 comes they begin again to seek shallower water, where food is more 

 plentiful. Trout in Loch Leven 2^ years old usually weigh about 

 8 oz. ; 3^ years, i Ib. ; 4^ years, i^ to 2 Ibs. ; 5^ years, 2 to 3 Ibs. ; 

 5 to 7 years, 2^ to 5 Ibs. (Fig. 232). After this, as has already been 

 said, most of them die. The condition of the trout depends much on 

 the weather in April and May, and if seasonable at all are soon 

 in good condition ; again in a cold spring I have seen them in 

 better condition in the middle of April than they sometimes are in the 

 middle of May. These two months, however, have generally more 

 effect than other months in bringing trout into condition, both in Loch 

 Leven and other lochs as well. In Loch Leven the young trout 

 which have not spawned are usually about ^ Ib. in weight during 

 the winter, and are in much better condition than those that have 

 spawned and become kelts (Fig. 233), consequently it is usually 

 the smaller trout that come first into condition. The trout that 

 spawn early come into good condition much quicker than those that 

 spawn late, so that there are trout constantly coming into good 

 condition from April to the end of August. The largest ones are 



