CHAPTER VII. 



MATURITY. 



I have already indicated my opinion, though I do not pretend to 

 have conclusively proved, that all the whitling of any year do not ascend 

 together but that only a proportion of them does so. The question has 

 now to be considered whether all, or only some, of the sea-trout which 

 have reached maturity ascend to spawn during the same season. 



Mr. W. H. Armistead, in his book on " Trout Waters — Manage- 

 ment and Angling," tells us that all the mature trout of any lake ascend 

 the tributary streams each season to spawn. Personally, I should 

 prefer more exhaustive proof than Mr. Armistead offers of this fact 

 though one hesitates to doubt the conclusions of so well-known an 

 expert. On the other hand it is quite clear, as we have seen, that a 

 comparatively small proportion of the stock of salmon at any time in 

 the sea ascends to spawn, and it is not unreasonable to assume in the 

 mature sea-trout a similar habit. Definite proof of this matter is, so 

 far as I know, not yet available, but something may be learned 

 inferentially, and I shall pursue with that object the supposed move- 

 ments of those whitling (now grown to sea-trout) which did not migrate 

 to fresh water in the autumn of the year in which they descended as 

 smelts. 



It seems appropriate to follow these fish first because clearly they 

 will have come earliest into condition to make the ascent owing to their 

 uninterrupted spell of rich marine feeding. In fact we do find in some 

 rivers a fairly early run of such sea-trout. In the Leven, for instance, 

 we find them ascending to Loch Lomond, but in no great numbers, as 

 early as the middle of April — fish of from i^ lb. to 2^ lb. in weight. 

 In 19 1 5, on April 3, a clean run sea-trout, weighing f lb., was caught 



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