SALMON FISHING WITH THE FLY. 183 
found in the stomach of a salmon, that he does not feed. A 
friend of mine, who takes the greatest interest in this subject, 
told me that, when he was fishing in Norway some years ago, 
he cut open every fish he caught (thirty in number), and did not 
find anything inside any of the salmon, but three of the grilse 
were gorged with insects, which he thought were daddy-long- 
legs. This is the only instance I ever met with of food being 
found in the stomach of a salmon ; it is, of course, an excep- 
tion: but if any evidence were wanting, this of itself proves 
that salmon will feed, though how to account for the absence 
of food in their stomachs is a puzzle. I have often noticed, 
fishing with natural bait, when a salmon is landed the bait is 
torn from the hooks and sent up the line a foot ormore. Does 
not this show that a salmon has marvellous power of ejecting 
its food? Is it not probable that, when he gets into trouble, 
either by being hooked, or netted, he will disgorge the contents 
of his stomach? A trout that is full of food will, we all know, 
do so after he is landed—and why not the salmon? My friend 
who told me he found food inside the grilse also said that 
several Norwegian net fishermen informed him that, after their 
nets were drawn in they generally found a number of half- 
digested fish amongst the salmon thus caught. He also said he 
had heard the same story at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. If these 
fishermen spoke the truth, it goes a long way in support of my 
theory.! 
The absence of food in a salmon’s stomach has been 
accounted for in one other way. A salmon may have such 
powers of digestion that whatever food he consumes disappears 
almost at once; but against this supposition there is the fact 
of what my friend found inside three grilse. As it is certain 
grilse are only salmon in youth, this theory must fall to the 
ground, and I am inclined to think the former explanation is 
the correct one. 
1 From my own experience I fully endorse this. Salmon must feed in fresh 
water, or they would take neither fly nor bait—spoons, prawns, or anything else, 
Yet I never found anything in their stomachs; they must eject it when in 
trouble.—ED, 
