SPINOUS FISH. 



323 



its safety to its minuteness, its celerity, or its 

 courage : nor does the pike confine itself to 

 feed on fish and frogs; it will draw down the 

 water-rat and the young ducks, as they are 

 swimming about. Gesner tells us of a mule 

 that stooped to drink in the water, when a 

 famished pike, that was near, seized it by 

 the nose, nor was it disengaged till the beast 

 flung it on shore. So great is their rapacity, 

 that they will contend with the otter for his 

 prey, and even endeavour to force it from him. 

 For this reason it is dreaded by all other fish : 

 and the small ones show the same uneasiness 

 and detestation at the presence of their tyrant, 

 as the little birds do at the sight of a hawk 

 or an owl. When the pike lies asleep near 

 the surface, as is frequently the case, the 

 lesser fish are often observed to swim around 

 it in vast numbers, with a mixture of caution 

 and terror. 



The other tribes of fresh-water fish are 

 much inferior to this animal in courage and 

 rapacity : they chiefly subsist upon worms 



strength; follow him down the stream, or allow him to 

 cross it ; while, at every, opportunity, you keep winding 

 up your line until you approach him in this wearied 

 state, and take him softly by the gills out of the water. 

 The salmon peal may be caught in the same manner; he 

 is smaller than the salmon, and seldom exceeds fourteen 

 or fifteen inches in length. 



Tench, (see page 306 for a figure of the Tench) like the 

 carp, are generally considered pond fish, although they 

 have been frequently caught in the river Stour. They 

 shed their spawn about the commencement of July, and 

 are in season from September to the latter end of May. 

 They will bite very freely during the sultry months. 

 Their haunts are similar to those of the carp ; except 

 that they frequent the foulest and muddiest bottoms, 

 where they may shelter themselves among an infinite 

 quantity of reeds ; hence you must angle for them very 

 near the bottom, and allow them sufficient time to gorge 

 the bait. 



Trout (see page 302) are considered as one of the 

 finest river fish that this country can produce. Its 

 colours are beautifully varied at different seasons of the 

 year, and according to the rivers it frequents. They 

 abound in the generality of our streams, rivers, and lakes, 

 and are usually angled for with an artificial fly. Their 

 weight also differs from half a pound to three; some few 

 have been caught which weighed upwards of four pounds. 

 Trout are extremely voracious ; and, by their activity and 

 eagerness, afford famous diversion to the angler. Previous 

 to their spawning, they are observed to force a passage 

 through weirs and flood-gates against the stream ; and 

 how they are enabled to overcome some of these 

 impediments, is a subject of much conjecture. Their 

 general time of shedding the spawn is about October or 

 November; in some rivers, however, it is much sooner, 

 in others later. They are also met with in eddies, where 

 they remain concealed from observation behind a stone, 

 cr log, or a bank that projects into the stream ; during 

 the latter part of the summer, they are frequently caught 

 in a mill-tail, and sometimes under the hollow of a bank, 

 or the roots of a tree. In angling for trout, there are 

 many things worthy of particular observation : 1st. That 

 the day on which the sport is undertaken, be a little 

 windy, or partially overcast, and the south wind is supe- 

 rior to all others, if it do not too much disturb your 



and insects, pursuing them at the bottom, or 

 jumping after them to the surface of the water. 

 In winter also, their appetite seems entirely 

 to forsake them ; at least they continue in so 

 torpid a state, that few baits-will tempt them 

 to their destruction. At that season, they 

 forsake the shallow waters, and seek those 

 deep holes to be found in every river, where 

 they continue for days together, without ever 

 appearing to move. The cold seems to affect 

 them ; for at that time they lie close to the 

 bottom, where the water is most warm, and 

 seldom venture out, except the day be pecu- 

 liarly fine, and the shallows at the edges of 

 the stream become tepified by the powerful 

 rays of the sun. Indeed I have been assured, 

 that some fishes may be rendered so torpid by 

 the cold, in the northern rivers, as to be frozen 

 up in the great masses of ice, in which they 

 continue for several months together, seem- 

 ingly without life or sensation, the prisoners 

 of congelation, and waiting the approach of a 

 warmer sun to restore them at once to life and 



tackle. 2d. The sportsman should remain as far as 

 possible from the stream, fish it downwards, the line 

 never touching ihe water, as the agitation proceeding 

 from the fall might disturb the fish, and preclude all 

 possibility of capturing them. 3d. Clear streams are 

 famous for sport, and in fishing in them, a small fly with 

 slender wings must be attached to the hook. When the 

 water is thick, and the sight more imperfect from this 

 disadvantage, a larger species of bait must of necessity 

 be used. 4th. The line should, on an average, be about 

 twice as long as the rod, unless in cases of emergency, 

 when the number and variety of trees exclude the pro- 

 bability of a successful throw, if at any distance. 6th. 

 Let the fly be made to suit the season. After a shower, 

 when the water becomes of a brown appearance, the 

 most killing bait is the orange fly ; in a clear day, the 

 light coloured fly ; and on a gloomy day, in overshadowed 

 streams, a dark fly. Very large trout have been killed 

 in Ullswater, in Cumberland, and still larger in Loch 

 Awe in Argyleshire. Specimens of this great fish are to 

 be found in Loch Awe, weighing from ten to twenty 

 pounds. (See it figured and described at page 302.) It 

 is said to be by far the most powerful of our fresh-water 

 fishes, exceeding the salmon in actual strength, though 

 not in activity. The most general size caught by troll- 

 ing, ranges from three to fifteen pounds: beyond that 

 weight they are of uncommon occurrence. If hooked 

 upon tackle of moderate strength, they afford excellent 

 sport; but the general method of fishing for them is 

 almost as well adapted for catching sharks as trout; the 

 angler being apparently more anxious to have it in his 

 power to state that he had caught a fish of such a size, 

 than to enjoy the pleasure of the sport itself. However, 

 to the credit of both parties, it may be stated, that the very 

 strongest tackle is sometimes snapped in two by its first 

 tremendous springs. The ordinary method of fishing for 

 this king of trouts is with a powerful rod, from a boat row- 

 ing at the rate of from three to four miles an hour ; the 

 lure, a common trout, from three to ten inches in length, 

 baited upon six or eight salmon hooks, tied back to back 

 upon strong gimp, assisted by two swivels, and the 

 wheel-line strong whip cord. Yet all this, in the first 

 impetuous efforts of the fish to regain its liberty, is fre- 

 quently carried away for ever into the crystal depths of 

 Loch Awe ! 



