How to prepare Salmon Roe. 121 



I cannot conclude this section better than by an extract 

 from Gay's " Rural Sports," so apropos to the subject as 

 the following : 



" You must not every worm promiscuous use, 

 Judgment will tell the proper baits to choose. 

 The worm that draws a long, immod'rate size, 

 The trout abhors, and the rank morsel flies ; 

 And if too small the naked fraud's in sight, 

 And fear forbids while hunger does invite. 

 Those baits will best reward the fisher's pains 

 Whose polish'd tails a shining yellow stains ; 

 Cleanse them from filth to give a tempting gloss, 

 Cherish the sully'd reptile race with moss ; 

 Amid the verdant bed they twine, they toil, 

 And from their bodies wipe their native soil." 



Fishing with the Salmon Roe. 



ALTHOUGH I partly consider fishing with Salmon Roe as 

 a species of poaching, yet, as others have treated of its use, 

 this little work might be deemed incomplete without 

 some account of it. I shall, therefore, show our system 

 of fishing with it as well as the Scotch method. 



I will first, then, advert to the curing of the roe : Pro- 

 cure a sufficient supply for your operations. This must 

 be sufficiently large in the ova or berries, and free from 

 blood, otherwise it is to be rejected. The ova for this 

 purpose should be ripe, that is, taken on the eve of being 

 deposited by the fish in the course of nature ; they should 

 be easy to separate, and each pellet as big as a pea. 

 First cleanse it by washing and picking from all impurities, 

 such as skin, blood, &c. which it may have contracted. 

 To do this, use slightly warm milk and water, and, as the 

 operation advances, transfer that which is cleansed to a 

 sieve to drain. Sometimes it is cured in the leaf by 

 wiping it clean, when it is ready, as the other, for curing. 

 When cool and sufficiently dry, take a jar and lay therein 

 a layer of roe, then sprinkle it well with salt ; some use 

 saltpetre also,, but the less the better as it injures the 



