LIFE -HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 3 



any artificial fly or spinning bait made. I may liere remark, 

 that the practice of fishing with the prawn, or minnow, except 

 under special circumstances, is not favoured by fly-fishers. 



Fly-fishing is deservedly popular; the reasons are not far 

 to seek. To begin with, this branch of our sport affords us 

 active exercise amidst the most beautiful scenery our islands 

 can boast — sometimes pastoral and peaceful, at others wild 

 and majestic. Then, the fish caught are the most game and 

 sportive of any found in the United Kingdom, and their 

 capture involves much skill, combined often with a knowledge 

 of insect life and the habits of fish. Moreover, no noisome 

 baits or ground baits are required, and the fish, when cooked, 

 provide us with agreeable food. Men who take to fly-fishing 

 rarely give it up as long as they have strength to wield a 

 rod. 



Peculiarities of Salmon and Trout.— Salmon are born 

 in fresh water, but pass a portion of their lives in the sea, 

 only running up rivers, so far as we know at present, for 

 the purpose of depositing their eggs and increasing their 

 species. The majority of mature salmon ascend the rivers in 

 the spring (about 90 per cent, of these spring fish are females) ; 

 but some are running up all through the summer and autumn, 

 provided there is any water. The immature, unspawned, or 

 maiden salmon, termed grilse in England and Scotland, and peal 

 in Ireland, ascend the rivers mostly in the autumn.* Spawn- 

 ing takes place in the winter. At the end of about 100 daysf 

 after the eggs are deposited there comes from the salmon-egg 

 the alevin — a tiny fish, with a yolk-sac about the size of a pea 

 attached to its stomach, the contents of which nourish it 

 for several weeks. The little creature then begins to feed, 

 and in a few months grows into the par, or samlet, a fish 



* There are no fixed rules respecting the times of migration of salmon and 

 grilse up rivers. In many rivers there is a run of salmon in the spring and 

 grilse in the autumn, but all through the season fish seem to be running up, \?hen- 

 ever there is a rise of water in the rivers. The habits of salmon differ materially 

 in different rivers, and in the same river they sometimes vary in the course of 

 years. The latest information on this and other subjects connected with the 

 natural history of the Salmonidce will be found in Dr. Day's " British and Irish 

 Salmonidae." There is an interesting chapter on the subject in Dr. Hamilton's 

 ** Recollections of Fly-fishing for Salmon, Trout, and Grayling." 



t The period of incubation varies according to the temperature of the water. 

 At 45 deg. the period is 90 days ; at 41 deg., 97 days ; at 36 deg., 114 days. 



DIV. III. O 



