60 THE SALMON TROUT. 



appear in February, March and April ; if a fresh happens 

 to swell the rivers in April, they begin to go down it. It 

 is a common saying amongst the anglers near the river 

 Ribble, that " the first fresh in May, takes all the smelt 

 away.'' At this time of the year they are about an ounce 

 weight ; by the middle of summer they will have grown 

 to the length of four or five inches. They will take 

 almost any small fly, particularly the golden palmer, 

 and afford great diversion. When I was a little boy, 

 not more than eight or ten years of age, I took great 

 quantities of them, and a many times three at once, 

 with a short hazel rod and a line in proportion with 

 three or four flies on, in the river Neath, near Pumfries. 

 They resort to gentle shallow streams, not daring to ven- 

 ture in the deeper parts of the river on account of the 

 various fish of prey which frequent such places. 



THE SALMON TROUT 



Is a very handsome fish, rather thicker and rounder than 

 a salmon, and is beautifully intermixed with black and 

 red spots from head to tail, and the flesh is considered 

 murh better than that of the salmon ; their haunts are 

 the same as the salmon and the larger-sized trout, and 

 may be taken when fishing for either. They will grow to 

 the weight of six or seven pounds. They are fond of 

 large gaudy flies, and when the river is fresh, they will 

 take the worm the same as the trout. 



