THE CLOSE SEASON DISCUSSED 115 



CLOSE SEASON TOO SHORT 



It is the opinion of many fishermen that trout 

 fishing opens in many districts at too early and closes 

 at too late a date. The fisherman whose experience 

 has extended over many districts, and who has fished 

 early and late in the season, will recall the frequent 

 capture of ill-conditioned or dirty fish towards the 

 close and at the beginning of the different seasons. 

 These are fish which have not recovered from, or 

 which have already begun to feel the influence of, the 

 spawning season. Such fish should, of course, in all 

 cases be returned to the water, but the chances of 

 killing or injuring these fish should in no case be 

 permitted. 



The wild fish instinctively cease to feed as their 

 spawning season approaches, though the domesticated 

 fish will continue to feed, if permitted, up to the time 

 they are ripe. This loss of appetite in the wild fish 

 is accompanied by a change in their appearance. 

 Generally speaking, the female fish becomes sluggish 

 and more discoloured than the cock fish; the cock 

 fish retains its activity, and in some rivers becomes 

 brighter on the sides as the mating season approaches. 



Meteorological conditions affect the time of spawn- 

 ing, and also affect the length of the period in which 

 it takes a trout to recover after the spawning opera- 

 tions are over. This is especially so in the wild fish. 

 Even in the same districts spawning conditions vary 

 very considerably ; not only the temperature of the 



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