SALMO HUCHO. 263 



PoiET. — Catch him ! we have no tackle 

 stroiifj enough. 



Hal. — I am surprised to hear a salmon 

 fisher talk so : yet he is too large to take a 

 fly, and must be trolled for. We must spin 

 a bleak for him, or small fish, as we do for 

 the trout of the Thames or the salmon of the 

 Tay. Ornither, you understand the arrange- 

 ment of this kind of tackle — look out in my 

 book the strongest set of spinning hooks you 

 can find, and supply them with a bleak ; and 

 whilst I am changing the reel, I will give you 

 all the information (which, I am sorry to say, 

 is not much,) that I have been able to collect 

 respecting this fish from my own observation 

 or the experience of others. The hucho is 

 the most predatory fish of the salmo genus, 

 and is made like an ill-fed trout, but longer 

 and thicker. He has larger teeth, more 

 spines in the pectoral fin, a thicker skin, a 

 silvery belly, and dark spots only on the back 

 and sides — I have never seen any on the 

 fins. The ratio of his length to his girth is 

 as 8 to 18, or, in well-fed fish, as 9 to 20. 

 and a fish, 18 inches long by 8 in girth, 

 s 4 



