SEA-ANGLING. Ill 



own poets— the lake poets. It is with its fish that we have 

 business, and honesty compels us to give the eharr a bad cha- 

 racter. It is not by any means a game fish, so far as sport is 

 concerned ; nor is it great ia size or rich in flavour. But potted 

 charr is a rare breakfast delicacy. This fish, which is said by 

 Agassiz to be identical with the ombre chevalier of Switzerland, 

 is rarely found to weigh more than a pound; specimens are 

 sometimes taken exceeding that weight, but they are scarce. 

 The charr is found to be pretty general in its distribution, and 

 is found in many of the Scottish lochs. It spawns about the 

 end of the year, some of the varieties depositing their eggs in 

 the shallow parts of the lake, while others proceed a short way 

 up some of the tributary streams. In November great shoals of 

 charr may be seen iu the rivers Kothay and Brathay, particularly 

 the latter, with the view of spawning. The charr, we are told 

 by Yarrell, afibrd but scant amusement to the angler, and are 

 always to be found in the deepest parts of the water in the lochs 

 which they inhabit. " The best way to capture them is to trail 

 a very long line after a boat, using a minnow for a bait, with a 

 large bullet of lead two or three feet above the bait to sink it 

 deep in the water ; by this mode a few charr may be taken ia 

 the beginning of summer, at which period they are in the height 

 of perfection both in colour and flavour." 



As I am on the subject of anglers' fishes, the reader will 

 perhaps allow me to suggest that " no end of sport" may be ob- 

 tained in the sea ; that capital sea-angling may be enjoyed all 

 the year round, and aU round the British coasts ; and that there 

 are fighting fishes in the waters of the great deep that will 

 occasionally try both the cunning and the nerve of the best 

 anglers. The greatest charm of sea-angling, however, lies in its 

 simplicity, and the readiness with which it can be engaged in, 

 together with the comparatively homely and inexpensive nature 

 of the instruments required. A party living at the seaside can 

 either fish off the rocks or hire a boat, and purchase, or obtain 

 on loan (for a slight consideration) such simple tackle as is 

 necessary; though it must not be too simple, for even sea^fish 

 win not stand the insult of supposing they can be caught as a 

 matter of course with 'anything ; and as the larger kinds of hooks 

 are often scarce at mere fishing villages, it is better to carry a 

 few to the scene of action. 



"Well then, what sport does the sea afford?" will most 

 likely be the first question put by those who are unacquainted 



