132 MALACOP. ABDOM. SALMON FAMILY. 



when trolling from a boat in fresh water. The 

 herring-fry, salted, are the most killing bait (also 

 excellent for large fish in fresh-water lochs), al- 

 though minnows are very good : a sand-eel may 

 also do, the black skin pulled oVer the head, so as 

 to show nothing but the white body ; this shines 

 very bright, but, as it does not spin, is far less 

 deadly than the others. A boatman who thoroughly 

 knows the fishing-ground is indispensable, as it is 

 much more difficult to find out than in fresh water. 

 Strong eddies, formed by the tide, are often good 

 places ; also any bays, esj)ecially if mountain burns 

 run into them. The largest size of Sea-trout are 

 caught in this way; and when hooked, from the 

 depth and strength of the water, make capital play. 

 If there is a good pool at the mouth of any moun- 

 tain burn, by going with your fly-rod during a 

 " spait," or coming dow^n of the water after heavy 

 rain, and ichen the tide is at the full^ you may have 

 excellent sport. The Trout are all floundering about, 

 ready to take your fly the moment it touches the 

 water. This only lasts for a short time, as they all 

 leave the pool at the receding of the tide." * 



The food of this species, when in the sea, consists 

 of small fishes and Crustacea, in particular Talitrus 

 locusta^ or common sandhopper, with which their 

 stomachs have been found completely crammed : in 

 fresh water they seek the same food as their con- 

 geners. Dr. Parnell considers it almost impossible 

 to distinguish the young of the several kinds of 

 * The Moor and the Loch, p. 130. 



