118 APPEARANCE OF SPAWNING TROUT 



as temperature and weather are concerned ; but in 

 any district, whether it be relatively early or rela- 

 tively late in its spawning, contradictory as it may 

 seem, the early spawners produce the best results. 



Captain T. R. Morse, of the Kennet Valley Fisheries, 

 a very keen observer, has communicated an interesting 

 method, which I believe may be regarded as a new 

 one, of distinguishing on sight between the sexes of 

 the trout. The cock fish, he claims, can be easily 

 distinguished from the female fish during the spawn- 

 ing season by the fact that the adipose fin is more 

 developed, thicker and stiffer than in the hen fish. 



During the open season the reader may probably find 

 it difficult to distinguish between the sexes of the 

 trout. As stated above, it is claimed that the cock 

 fish has a longer and stouter adipose fin ; there is a 

 bluntness about the nose and head of a cock fish, 

 although this bluntness is lost as the spawning season 

 approaches. At this time the colour becomes more 

 vivid on the sides; and the belly of the fish, both 

 before and behind the ventral fin, has a decidedly square 

 appearance in the cock fish. The hen fish at this time 

 loses some of her colour, and grows big with spawn, 

 but does not acquire the squareness in the underneath 

 part of its body peculiar to the cock fish. 



River weeds are of the greatest importance in order 

 to provide food for trout. The weeds which should be 

 introduced and which best encourage the growth of 

 the water shrimp, perhaps the most valuable natural 

 food for trout, are the Ranunculus and Water Celery. 



