SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 395 



Germans less politely have named it the stinkfisch. Taylor, 

 writing in the ' Hardwicke Society Gossip,' asserted that he had 

 known smelts come up rivers in such vast numbers that the 

 peculiar cucumber smell was apparent to those who walked 

 by the water's edge. 



The true smelt is scarce on our southern shores, but very 

 numerous from the mouth of the Thames northward. Many 

 ancient and important smelt fisheries existed on that part of the 

 coast. In the estuaries of the Thames and Medway these 

 little fish are plentiful ; they are also caught in the Wash and 

 Huniber, and, in fact, in nearly all the tidal waters of that coast. 

 Breydon Water, at the back of Yarmouth, is full of them in 

 their season. They are fairly abundant in places on the West 

 coast, and are caught in the estuaries of the Tee and Mersey, 

 and all the rivers flowing into the Solway. Whether they are 

 found on the Irish coast is uncertain. 



Like salmon and sea trout, the true smelts push into fresh 

 water for spawning purposes. They have been caught as high 

 up the Thames as Teddington and Hammersmith. They 

 spawn during the spring, and immediately after spawning are 

 not particularly good to eat. Observers tell some curious 

 stories of the way in which smelts on the East coast drive shoals 

 of freshwater fish before them, as they ascend rivers. Roach 

 and dace in large numbers are said to flee before the smelts 

 in Norfolk waters. Something similar in relation to the dace 

 has been noticed, or at any rate recorded, in respect of the 

 Thames. 



Smelts appear to grow very rapidly ; a contributor to ' Land 

 and Water ' said that he had noticed in October ten or twelve 

 which weighed together no more than a pound, while in March 

 each fish would weigh four to six ounces, and a few as much as 

 half a pound. Some of the fish caught were opened, and it 

 was found that they had been feeding on herring fry. Their 



