CHAPTER XL 



TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN TROUT AND SMOLT. 



I HAVE heard anglers of experience declare a fish of the 

 Salmo species to be a sea-trout, because they were nearly 

 certain that he was neither a salmon nor a bull-trout, and 

 although the said anglers had fished for nearly a score of 

 years, neither of them could name the characteristic points 

 of the fish. 



When such lack of knowledge exists among matured 

 anglers, it is no wonder that the trout-fisher, unaccustomed 

 to salmon rivers, should experience difficulty in distin- 

 guishing between small trout and smolt, and as this disa- 

 bility may possibly lead to trouble, as well as being the 

 cause of the destruction of immature fish, it is advisable 

 that he be acquainted with the characteristics of both 

 species. 



Most of us can recall instances of our own hesitation 

 in the expression of a definite opinion upon the subject, 

 and probably few of us at one time or another have not 



