88 FISHING GOSSIP. 



" cute" to enter it until the Lammas floods set in. 

 They hang about the tideway, biding their time for the 

 journey to the spawning-beds until they can under- 

 take it with some degree of safety, and when they 

 have accomplished their object, skedaddle away back 

 to the sea again as quickly as possible. 



Westward of Ballinskelligs is Dingle Bay, at the 

 head of which the rivers Laun, Cara, and Main dis- 

 charge. The first is the outlet from the celebrated 

 Lakes of Killarney, and there some salmon, such as 

 those before described, are obtained in January. The 

 Cara is also connected with lakes, and holds a promi- 

 nent place in the list of " early rivers." My colleague 

 in office Mr. Barry, and myself, upon one occasion a 

 23d of November assembled the local board of con- 

 servators, lessees of fisheries, proprietors, etc., hav- 

 ing caused the cruives to be set in fishing order the 

 night before in Michael Foley's weir below Cara lake, 

 and eighteen salmon were found to have been taken 

 in the traps. They all looked bright and beautiful, 

 but on a post-mortem examination we found that two 

 were so far advanced in roe that they would have 

 spawned that season, and that sixteen were in the 

 early stage which would suggest their non-spawning 

 before the following autumn. 



The third river, the Main, is very much of the 

 same class as the Inney, though larger ; no lakes, and 

 little deep water. Into this river the fish will not 



