THE TROUT. I 69 



These fish are said to be in season from March 

 to September. They are, however, fatter from the 

 middle to the end of August than at any other 

 time. 



Treats in a good pond will grow faster than in 

 some rivers. And a gentleman who kept them in 

 ponds, to ascertain the progress and duration of 

 their lives, asserts that at four or five years old they 

 were at their full growth. For three years subse- 

 quent to this they continued with little alteration in 

 size ; two years after, the head seemed to be en- 

 larged, and the bodv wasted, and in the following 

 winter they died. According to this computation, 

 nine or ten years seem to be the term of their exist- 

 ence. 



In several of the northern rivers, Trouts are taken 

 as red and as well tasted as Charr ; and their bones, 

 when potted, like those of Charr, have dissolved. 

 These are often very large : one of them was caught 

 some time ago that measured twenty-eight inches 

 in length. — A Trout was taken in the river Stour, 

 in December 1797, which weighed twenty-six 

 pounds, and another, some years ago, in Lough 

 Neagh, in Ireland, that weighed thirty pounds. 



This fish is not easily caught with a line, being at 

 all times excedingly circumspect. The baits used 

 are worms of artificial flies. The season for fishinsr 



o 



is from March till Michaelmas. The angler prefers 

 cloudy weather, but he is not particular as to the 

 time of day. 



In two or three of the pools of North Wales, 



