The Salmon 71 



they widen out again during the summer. No river-mark appears in 

 these scales, because the tish have not been in fresh water since they 

 descended as smelts. 



To many it may seem strange that a grilse the same age as this 



Fig. 66.— 9i- lbs. iSth Febriuiry 1907. .Markcil as Smolt ^Nlay 1905. 



February spring fish can be 8, lo, or 12 lbs. weight in August the 

 previous year, and this spring fish, after having si.x months more 

 feeding in the sea, is yet of less weight. It seems equally strange 

 why a fish the same age as the grilse caught on 9th August 

 weighed 27 lbs. Knowing these things, we need not wonder at a fish 

 being caught over 40 lbs. in another year. We have no way of 

 knowing what the weight of the grilse that came up in the autumn 



