156 



CHAPTER VIII. 



FISHING WITH THE SALMON ROE. 



ALTHOUGH fishing with the salmon roe is considered, 

 and perhaps with reason, by many anglers, as allied to 

 poaching, and in consequence is frequently tiraded 

 against, without pause or forbearance, I do not think I 

 should be doing justice to what is designed to be a full 

 exposition of the art and science of angling were I to 

 exclude all notice of it from these pages. The wonder- 

 ful property possessed by the bait in question, of 

 attracting trout is, of itself, a subject demanding 

 the attention and investigation of the naturalist. To 

 what sense or instinct inherent in the fish it is attribut- 

 able remains still, in some measure, a matter of dispute; 

 whether, in fact, it is dependent upon the exquisiteness 

 of their taste, or that subtle power of discernment 

 which not unfrequently is connected with the organ of 

 smell. For my own part, I am inclined to believe it 

 depends upon the exercise of both senses, although 

 chiefly upon the latter. That the use of the salmon 

 roe in its prepared state as employed by anglers, 

 possesses the virtue I speak of to a truly singular 

 extent, a very few instances falling under personal 

 experience may suffice to prove, and from these, I under- 

 take to make a few deductions in favour of, occasionally 

 and in certain localities, employing it as a bait for trout. 



