Trout Fishing 21 



the streams at its head, but their numbers are always 

 insignificant, and in some seasons they are most conspicuous 

 by their absence altogether. In the spring, the Smolts, or 

 Sparlings, of both Salmo salar and S. trutta occasionally take 

 the artificial fly of the angler, in the Llafar, Little Dee, 

 Lliw, and Twrch ; those of S. salar^ in my limited experi- 

 ence, being most abundant in the two first named streams, 

 and S. trutta in the latter. During the autumn of 1906 I 

 saw one fish of about 5 or 6 Ibs. in the Twrch, and several 

 in the Little Dee up to at least 12 or 15 Ibs. One which 

 had been poached from the latter, early in November, had 

 already spawned, and weighed about 14 Ibs. Those 

 occasionally netted in the lake do not often exceed 10 Ibs. 



The Trout native to the lake sometimes run as large, but 

 the biggest of them seldom fall to the lot of rod and line 

 from the shore, though they may be seen rising freely at 

 the large sedge flies which skim the surface of the water at 

 dusk. As a consequence, no doubt, of their early spawning, 

 and early return to the lake, where the feeding is good, 

 many of the trout here are in excellent condition by the 

 time the fishing opens on ist February. Though a large 

 basket can scarcely be expected by a fisherman angling from 

 the shore, at that season, when climatic conditions are 

 seldom altogether favourable, perseverance will generally 

 meet with its reward. Fish of about a pound in weight are 

 by no means scarce, and they are game and plucky fighters 

 that will tax his skill in landing. Like most lake trout, 

 these fish are very grey and silvery, with black -f marks 

 upon them, and frequently without red spots. When in 

 good condition they are very pink fleshed, large ones being 

 redder than fresh run salmon. Young individuals also 

 resemble salmon smolts in their slender forms and lively 

 habits. They spring like little bars of silver from the water 

 when hooked, and, furthermore, leave their scales very 

 freely on the hands of the fisherman as he disengages them 

 from his fly. Their fins, too, are very pale in colour at this 

 age, and altogether they might very easily be confounded 

 with smolts or sparling ; but the pectoral and ventral fins 

 nearly always show some tinge of yellow, and if further 



