514 VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF LAKELAND 



' top nets.' They are largely fished also with the plumb line 

 and artificial minnow, very much as Day describes. 1 These 

 fish fetch about eighteenpence a pound in the season, and the 

 surplus supply is despatched to Manchester. The Windermere 

 Charr have improved in quality of late, owing to a larger mesh 

 of net being employed than formerly. Mr. E. B. Lee states 

 that the Windermere fish often average three to the pound. 

 He mentions an instance in which a local fisherman caught 

 eighteen Charr with the hook and line. These fishes were 

 weighed together and scaled 7 lbs. William Bevins, the Leven 

 watcher, stated in 1878 that the largest Charr he ever saw 

 weighed 1 J lbs. Matthew Fleming estimated an average fish 

 to weigh from J lb. to J lb. The largest he ever saw weighed 

 2 lbs. 2 



SMELT. 



Osmerus eperlanus (L. ). 



The Smelt, or 'Sparling,' as it is usually called in our estuaries, 

 has long been recognised as affording profitable occupation to 

 our fishermen. As early as 1807 Charles Waugh described 

 this species as ' sometimes caught as large as a herring/ and as 

 ' near the same shape. The back is of a dusky colour, but the 

 belly and sides are of a silver colour or resplendent white ; it 

 smells like green rushes, but is agreeable food.' 3 



Mr. Nicol tells me that he once assisted in netting nearly a 

 stone weight of this fish. George Holmes gave me the benefit 

 of a similar experience ; but the general opinion appears to be 

 that the Sparling is less plentiful in the tideway of the English 

 Solway than was the case some years ago. 'At Ulverston,' 

 wrote the late Frank Buckland, ' a considerable number of 

 Sparlings are caught. Mr. Jackson Lee, of the Kent Salmon 

 Board of Conservators, informs us that in February the Sparlings 

 are heavy with spawn ; they begin spawning about the middle 

 of March, and the spawning is all over by the middle of April. 



i British Fishes, vol. ii. p. 111. 



2 Report on the Fisheries of the English Lake District, p. 9. 



3 Fisherman's Defence, p. 66. 



