60 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



CHAPTER X. 



To those unacquainted with the method of taking 

 salmon, a brief detail may not be uninteresting : pre- 

 mising that in other fisheries different means are 

 employed, yet the simplest and general method is that 

 used at Aughniss. 



About March fly-fishing commences, and a strong 

 and active spring fish will then frequently be killed, 

 if the river is sufficiently supplied with water, and the 

 wind brisk and westerly. As the season advances the 

 fishing materially improves ; and from the month of 

 April, salmon, in the highest condition, with red and 

 white trout, will rise here freely at the fly. 



In June, however, the regular fishing with nets 

 commences, and then the wear is raised to stop the 

 passage of the fish, and the river water vented through 

 a small aperture provided with a trap, or as it is techni- 

 cally called, a box. By these traps and artificial canals, 

 in other fisheries the salmon are principally taken ; but 

 here, except some straggling fish, the box produces 

 little. 



The fishing is confined to the estuary, where the river 

 meets the sea. Here, according to naturalists, the 

 salmon undergo a probationary course before they 

 exchange the salt for the fresh water, as a sudden change 

 from either would be fatal to the fish, and a temporary 

 sojourn in water of an intermediate quality (brackish) 

 is supposed to be requisite before they can leave either 

 the ocean or the river. 



