82 FISHING GOSSIP. 



borne in mind, that some, and those not a few, make 

 the fresh water their habitation for the whole of the 

 summer ; the majority ascend in April, May, June, 

 July, and August ; whilst others remain again in the 

 sea, and only enter the fresh water a few weeks, or it 

 may be a few days, before they spawn. The object 

 of this natural law, I think, is quite clear. It is 

 intended that the fish should distribute themselves 

 throughout the whole of the waters of the largest 

 rivers, the upper as well as the lower ; and this they 

 will do, if not interfered with by man. The fish 

 which ascend the earliest will choose their position 

 in the deep pools or lakes on the higher reaches of 

 the waters, and there be ready to take possession of 

 the gravel beds in the vicinity when the time has 

 arrived to sow their seed ; whilst those which remain 

 in the sea will, and always do, spawn on the lower 

 beds. The earliest spawning is always the highest 

 up ; the latest the lowest down. In small rivers, 

 without lakes or deep pools, the fish will not ascend 

 at all until autumn approaches, having divined by a 

 marvellous instinct that they would not find water 

 enough in summer to shelter them. There is no such 

 thing as "clean " newly-run fish with the roes scarcely 

 developed to be found in December, January, and 

 February, except in rivers connected with lakes, or 

 large rivers and deep pools. Where those December and 

 January fish have been captured in any considerable 



