SEA-TROUT FISHING 

 greater number of spots on the operculum and shoulder than a normal 

 clean salmon bears, the presence of maggots in the gills (suggesting an 

 estuarine habit) and pale, flavourless flesh. They are quite distinct from 

 the sea-trout of the Tweed and the bull-trout of other rivers, and although 

 Mr Galderwood reports having recognized fish similar to the Tay ** sal- 

 mon-bull-trout " in the Ness, Helmsdale and Dee, I consider that it 

 would be a great mistake to believe that all salmon after spawning assume 

 the characteristics of this variety. 



The sea -trout par excellence (Salmo trutta), whether it be called salmon- 

 trout, as some do use, or white -trout as in Ireland, or whitling as in 

 the Tweed, is probably — ^weight for weight — the miost sporting fish in the 

 British Isles; to offer it any bait except the artificial fly is — ^if not a crime- 

 certainly a misdemeanour. To enjoy the sport in perfection, it should be 

 sought in streams of such dimensions as may be effectively fished with a 

 light rod — ^from nine to twelve feet long. Half the pleasure is forfeited if 

 a more powerful rod, with correspondingly heavy line, has to be used, 

 for although sea -trout of 5 or 6 lb. are not uncommon, such weights 

 are exceptional, the majority will range from 1 to 3 lb. in June and July; 

 later in the season the average will be reduced by the run of herlings — 

 corresponding to the grilse stage in salmon — which weigh from half a 

 pound to a pound.* Nevertheless, though the rod and tackle be light, 

 the reel should hold not less than 100 yards of line, for a 6 lb. sea-trout 

 in a Highland torrent makes a wild fight for freedom; besides which, 

 there is always the chance of hooking a heavy salmon. My first salmon 

 was hooked on a small fly with which I was fishing for sea -trout; and a 

 difficult job I had to land him, being young and equally devoid of experi- 

 ence, gaff and landing net. Seventeen pounds was the weight of my prize, 

 fresh from the sea, and the human heart can scarcely be capable of more 

 intense emotion than filled mine as I gazed upon the glittering prize laid 

 out upon the shingle. 



Most of our large salmon rivers contain sea -trout, and when these are 

 content to remain in the principal channel a rod of fifteen feet or so is neces- 

 sary to cover the places where they lie. But as a rule these fish turn aside 

 from the main channel into some tributary where an ordinary trout -rod 

 is all that is required. Good sea -trout-fishing is far more difficult to obtain 

 in the United Kingdom than salmon -fishing. To secure a beat on a first- 



*The true sea-trout is occasionally takeo in nets of far heavier weights. In Fig. 8 is a photograph by Mr Malloch 

 of one weighing 18 lb. taken with the rod in the Tay in June, 1902; but such fish seldom rise to the fly. 



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