92 A RIVER OF NORWAY 



perfect satisfaction in sport depend on the 

 quarry being in the pink of condition, and of 

 use as human food ! It must be a deplorable 

 drawback to the exciting sport of tarpon-fishing, 

 that there is nothing to be done with the fish 

 when killed. 



One very early season there were a great 

 many fish in this part of the river before the 

 middle of July. But it was the extraordinarily 

 hot July of 1901, when the thermometer regis- 

 tered 89 in the shade at Osen, and the tempera- 

 ture of the river reached 67. In such weather 

 and water fishing is very hopeless. I have 

 heard that trout die at a temperature of 75, and 

 if this is so, the inhabitants of the river must 

 have been getting very nervous at that time. 

 It does not appear that the influence of tem- 

 perature on salmon has been at all adequately 

 studied, either as regards its effect on their 

 running, or on their taking the fly. Certainly 

 they lose their condition much faster when the 

 water is warm than when it is cold. As far 

 as I have observed the most favourable tempera- 

 ture for angling is from 49 to 54. 



But as a breeding-place for salmon this top 

 water is all that could be desired. There are 



