SALMON SPAWN. 5 1 



tliem, and it ia said that a too frequent use of them spoils 

 the fishing for any other bait. 



11. Salmon spawn. We are told that this is a poaching 

 contrivance — illegal and unsportsmanlike. It may be 

 bought preserved ready, and has a killing reputation. It 

 is difficult to prepare, as it is apt to become too hard or 

 too soft. One recipe says that it should be carefully 

 washed with cold water, and separated in a delicate manner 

 from all skin. Lukewarm water must be added, until it is 

 perfectly clean from aU film. The last water must be cold. 

 The roe must then be left to dry in a hair sieve. Two 

 ounces of salt are then added to every pound of roe, and 

 well mixed with the fingers. The brine is then allowed 

 to drain off, and the roe is spread on a shallow dish near 

 the fire. The dish must be placed in an oblique direction, 

 and the roe stirred with the handle of a wooden spoon, 

 until each ovum has dried separately. To have each ovum 

 perfectly clean, separately salted and dried, is the secret of 

 the preserving it. When cool, pot it, and keep the air from 

 it with melted suet or lard — covering the pots down with 

 bladder or oUed silk. Another recipe states that it should 

 be boiled for about ten minutes, and then washed, picked, 

 cleaned, and dried. Two ounces of salt, and a quarter of an 

 ounce of saltpetre, must then be mixed with it, and spread 

 before the fire until it becomes quite stiff. It is then potted 

 as above. Trout take this bait greedily ; chub and roach bite 

 at it freely. It is threaded in single grains on the hook 

 until it is covered — the finest grains being reserved to cover 

 the barb and point of the hook. A good plan, too, is to 

 string the grains of roe, like beads, with a fine needle and 

 pink silk thread, and then wind them round the shank and 



