Sea-Trout 



159 



just returned from the sea. The one from which the illustration (Fig. 

 158) was taken was a perfect specimen when I caught it. The yellow- 

 fins, then, which return about the end of June, have only been three 

 months in the sea. At first they are very small, weighing only about a 

 quarter of a pound, but they continue to increase in size up to the end of 

 November, when the largest weigh about i Ib. While they remain in 

 fresh water they feed on larvae, flies, worms, etc., the greater number 

 of them, however, prefer the tidal water, and in the Tay very few are 

 caught more than ten miles above this. They remain in the river 

 until the end of December, when they begin to go down in consider- 



FIG. 157. ^-lb. Whitling. First return from the sea. July 1900. 



able numbers. Of course, some may go down somewhat earlier, but 

 from December until the beginning of May they are constantly going 

 down, and, if the weather is warm, practically all will have disappeared 

 from the river by the ist of May. Their condition greatly depends on 

 whether the winter has been cold or warm, and, of course, the 

 warmer the weather the better will be their condition, as they have 

 more to feed on and are more inclined to feed then. During some 

 seasons they are so thin that they have the appearance of kelts ; 

 but by October and November, if the weather is warm, they are 

 in good condition again, and the same applies to the months of March 

 and April. When the March browns and blue duns appear on the 

 river, the whitling feed ravenously and seldom allow a fly to pass. 



