TREATISE ON FLY-FISHING. 57 



Sir H. Davie gives the following account of 

 their spawning ; and his remarks on some of the 

 flies upon which they feed will be found interest- 

 ing. 



" Trout spawn or deposit their ova and semi- 

 nal fluid in the end of Autumn or beginning of 

 Winter, from the middle of November till the 

 beginning of January : this materially depending 

 upon the temperature of the season, their quantity 

 of food, &c. For some time (a month or six 

 weeks) before they are prepared for the sexual 

 functions, or that of reproduction, they become 

 less fat, particularly the females, the large quantity 

 of eggs and their size, probably affecting the 

 health of the animal, and compressing generally 

 the vital organs in the abdomen. They are at least 

 six weeks or two months after they have spawned 

 before they recover their flesh, and the time when 

 these fish are at the worst, is likewise the worst 

 time for fly fishing, both on account of the cold 

 weather and because there are fewer flies on 



