THE CHAR-CHAR FISHING 211 



in a few feet of water ; while the silver char 

 spawn in the lake in February, in deep water at 

 Holbeck Point and Millerground Bay among other 

 places. These are facts which no one probably will 

 seek to controvert, but the deductions drawn from 

 them are, I am convinced, inaccurate. I have care- 

 fully examined a large series of these red and silver 

 fish, and can find no specific distinction whatever. 

 That they are one and the same species there can 

 be no doubt, but that they spawn at different times 

 of the year is equally certain. 1 I confess myself 

 quite unable to account for this, unless the age of 

 the fish has some bearing upon the point. From 

 personal observation, however, I can state (a fact 

 which hitherto I have not seen mentioned), viz. 

 that Windermere contains a considerable number 

 of " gelt " char that is, fish which do not spawn 

 in a particular season and this fact suggests, 

 among others, the following interesting ques- 

 tions : 



1. At what age does the char first spawn ? 



2. Once a spawner, does the fish spawn annually ? 



3. Does the age of the fish when it first com- 

 mences to spawn, or the fact of there being gelt 

 fish in the lake, account for char being found on 

 the spawning beds at different seasons roughly 

 November and February ? 



Owing to its affecting deep water, and the 

 mystery that surrounds it, the life-history of the 

 char is difficult to follow ; but once we get an 



1 During 1898 none of the char taken up to the middle 

 of May were fit for food. The majority looked as though 

 they had just come off the " redds." 



P 2 



