TREATISE ON FLY-FISHING. 89 



in size, in proportion to the time they have been 

 absent. Fry, which were marked in April and 

 May, have been caught on their return at the end 

 of June, weighing from two to three pounds in 

 weight. These are sold in our markets as salmon 

 peal, when of a larger size they are called gilse. 

 A second visit to the sea gives these another 

 increase, when they return to the rivers as 

 salmon. 



By the term " gilse," is meant young salmon 

 that have only been to the sea once. It seems 

 worthy of remark, that salmon are sometimes 

 smaller than gilse ; but although such gilse have 

 only been once at sea, yet the period they have 

 remained there, must have exceeded the two 

 short visits made by the small salmon, and hence 

 their superiority of size. 



It has been a constantly received opinion, that 

 all the young fish, after their first visit to the sea, 

 return to the rivers in which they had been bred ; 

 numbers of marked fish have certainly been 



