CHAPTER IV 



COMPARATIVE MERITS OF CHAR AND SALMON 

 TROUTS 



ONE might propound some such question as 

 this, "When is a trout not a trout?" And the 

 answer would be, "When it is a char." In truth, 

 our far-famed lover of cold streams is not a true 

 trout: that is, a member of the salmon family. 

 If the shade of Izaak Walton were to accost an 

 angler on his way home from a trout brooklet 

 and peep into his basket supposing the angler's 

 quest had not been altogether fruitless the 

 spirit of that angler of other days and other 

 streams might remark somewhat upon this-wise: 

 "Friend, callest thou these fish trout? Methinks 

 they resemble what I was wont to name chars in 

 the days of long ago when I fished the streams 

 of Merrie England." And the angler of to-day, 

 if at all wise in ichthyic lore, would be compelled 

 to admit that his trout were not trout at all but 

 chars. 



The brook-trout is closely related to that fish 

 of the market sometimes called Mackinaw trout, 



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