CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



two most approved being Brown's Phantom min- 

 now, and the Angell or Devonshire minnow. 

 Even on a day when the trout are rising to the 

 fly, trailing is used in passing from one part of the 

 loch to another. 



Salmon-fishing. 



Fishing up stream is not recommended in 

 salmon-fishing, but rather across, the fly being 

 allowed to sweep downward and across. The 

 salmon has a peculiar habit, very likely to upset 

 the calculations of beginners : it consists of the 

 ugly practice of running off at a violent speed as 

 soon as he feels himself hooked, darting up the 

 stream, throwing himself several times out of the 

 water, and generally in the end hastening into 

 some sheltered haunt under the banks where he 

 expects to be safe. Great tact is necessary on 

 these occasions, first to give line, and then to keep 

 him from burying himself in these unapproachable 

 nooks. 



Leistering is the name usually given to a mur- 

 derous kind of pastime once pursued by salmon- 

 fishers in Scotland, but now confined to lawless 

 marauders, who kill vast numbers of fish during 

 ' close time.' Armed with leisters, or spears with 

 three-barbed prongs, a set of fishers proceed to 

 the river's bank, and there attract the fish by the 

 glare of torches, held over the water by members 

 of the party. When a salmon is discovered, one 

 selects it as his prey, and by a cool but rapid blow 

 transfixes it with his spear. There is an annual 

 close time, during which' it is illegal to angle for 

 salmon. The limits vary for different districts, 

 but are mostly from some time in October to the 

 beginning of February. Common trout are not 

 protected by any such law, but they are seldom 

 fished for between September and April 



The Parr. 



The parr is a small fish, which is found in great 

 abundance in almost all rivers which are clear, 

 and have a free communication with the sea. It 

 varies in size, of course, according to its age, but 



704 



seldom reaches a greater length than six inche 

 and is usually found below that magnitude. It is 

 silvery in appearance, and marked by peculiar 

 bluish bars or marks along the body ; while a 

 more nicely forked tail, and one regular row of 

 scarlet spots along the sides, in place of two or 

 three, aid further in distinguishing the parr from 

 the trout, the fish which it most resembles. 



Of the actual character of the parr, whether it is 

 an independent species or the fry of salmon, there 

 has been a long-continued controversy, which may 

 now be considered as settled in favour of its being 

 the young of the salmon. On most salmon rivers, 

 anglers are prohibited from catching parr, and 

 ought to be so on all. 



FISHPONDS. 



Artificial ponds for the rearing of fish and sup- 

 plying them when wanted for the table, were com- 

 mon in ancient times. The luxurious Romans pos- 

 sessed such preserves, and we learn that one belong- 

 ing to Lucullus sold after his decease for upwards 

 of ,24,000. Comparatively little has been done in 

 modern times in the way of establishing artificial 

 ponds, and those which exist are chiefly to be 

 found in noblemen's preserves. Yet artificial fish- 

 ponds may, with little or no trouble, be made to 

 yield a large and regular supply of fish, and may 

 be constructed at a most insignificant expense in 

 any piece of low-lying waste ground intersected by 

 a rivulet of pure water. 



The fish most suitable for ponds are trout, carp, 

 dace, roach, bream, tench, perch, and minnows. 

 Eels also thrive in ponds. The size of a pond 

 may be from one to twenty acres ; but a piece of 

 water of from two to three acres is considered the 

 most convenient dimensions. Of whatever size, 

 the pond must not be overstocked, and it must not 

 be left too long unfished. Fishponds, to be on the 

 most effective scale, should be in a series of two or 

 three, the water running from the one to the other. 

 This will allow means for periodical cleaning, if 

 required, and for having a choice of fish. 



