47 



CHAPTER VII. 

 TROUT, RODS AND TACKLE. 



TROUT (Salmo fario). 



TROUT and salmon rank so high 

 in the estimation of sportsmen 

 that they are designated "game" 

 fish. They are the partridges and 

 pheasants of the stream, and 

 everything else is relegated to 

 another and inferior category. 

 Acquaintance with them justifies 

 the flattery. The sport they give 

 and the superior art which their 

 capture entails make them the 

 coveted objects of fishermen. 

 Comparison with other fish found 

 in British waters can scarcely be 

 seriously made by anglers ac- 

 quainted with both. As food and 

 sport they are unrivalled, but 

 trout and salmon compared with 

 each other raise considerable 

 diversity of opinion as to which 

 stands first from a sporting point 

 of view. The question is not 

 raised here for the purpose of dis- 

 cussing it, let us be thankful that 

 we are not compelled to choose 

 between them, but can addr-ess 

 ourselves to the capture of both 

 as opportunity offers. 



Trout are classified under diffe- 

 rent heads : 



(1) The common trout (Salmo 

 fario}. 



(2) The great lake trout (S. 

 ferox). 



(3) The white (or sea) trout 

 (S. trutta). 



(4) The bull trout (S. eriox). 



(5) The rainbow trout (S. 

 iridens). 



The white and the bull trout 

 are included with the salmon in 

 the migratory family. The rain- 

 bow is an importation. Of the 



non-migratory family, despite the 

 variety in colour and shape, there 

 are only two known species of 

 British Salmonidtf, viz., S. fario, 

 which frequents the rivers and 

 streams, and 5. ferox, which is 

 found in the lakes. The variety 

 in colour is nothing more than 

 adaptation to environment. The 

 common trout is yellow, green, 

 brown, black, chameleon in short, 

 varying in tint according to the 

 nature of the water it inhabits. 

 In this respect it follows the 

 order of all creatures with ene- 

 mies stronger than themselves, 

 and is endowed with powers of 

 mimicry by which it may out- 

 wit them. The rapidity of these 

 changes is very remarkable. Ex- 

 periments prove that trout trans- 

 ferred to a new environment 

 undergo a change of colour in a 

 few minutes. The effect is pro- 

 duced by the fish assuming a tint 

 that blends with, or is not easily 

 distinguished from, the predomi- 

 nant colour of the water. In a 

 tributary of the Test, a pure chalk 

 stream, I discovered, after close 

 scrutiny, trout of a pale greenish 

 tint, which for some time had 

 escaped notice. In a weedy 

 stretch dark-tinted specimens 

 proved difficult to distinguish 

 from the trailing weeds amongst 

 which they poised. Ichthyologists 

 have wisely ignored tint in classi- 

 fying the species. 



The difference between S. fario 

 and its congener S. ferox is well 

 marked ; the following points dis- 

 tinguish them. The breeding 

 places of the common trout are 

 the shallow portions of streams 



