240 FLY FISHING AND SPINNING 



however, only affects the question of the fish in salt water 

 when their stomachs are in the normal condition, and 

 therefore this evidence of Mr. Pennell's does not help 

 matters. 



AGGRESSIVENESS OF SALMON 



Salmon in fresh water do not appear to be hungry 

 but rather savage, and their attitude is more aggressive 

 than voracious. The leaf floating on the surface of the 

 stream is seized, bitten, and rejected ; the lure of the 

 fisherman is seized, and, so far as my experience goes, is 

 never swallowed. I have never hooked a clean salmon, 

 even when spinning with the natural minnow, save in the 

 mouth, and generally in the tongue or jaws ; nor have I 

 heard of the triangle being found embedded except in 

 the mouth or upper part of the throat of a clean salmon. It 

 is certain that when a salmon is feeding it neither masticates 

 nor attempts to masticate its food ; indeed, its teeth are 

 unfitted for such a process, and directly the prey is seized 

 it is swallowed. This alone should dispel any belief in the 

 theory that a clean fish feeds in fresh water ; for if it did 

 so, the bait, when it was seized, would be immediately 

 swallowed, and innumerable cases would occur in which the 

 salmon would have to be cut open in order to liberate the 

 hooks attached to the lure. One powerful argument which 

 has to be met is, that salmon are frequently caught with 

 worms as bait, and if the hooks to which these worms are 

 attached were found in the stomach of the salmon, an 

 even stronger case would have to be answered ; but so far 

 as my information goes, these hooks are not found in the 

 stomach.* Eels, and worm-like larvae are as great a danger 

 to the salmon ova and alevin as any other denizen of fresh 



* A hook baited with worms would be the most likely lure to be swallowed 

 Their slippery nature would suggest their being more easily admitted into the 

 congested alimentary canal than other classes of food. 



