Essays in Natural History and Agriculture — John Shaqi
Essays in Natural History and AgricultureGarnett, Thomas
Science
Essays in Natural History and Agriculture
Garnett, Thomas
Agriculture; Salmon; Zoology
Wharfe it is the constant practice of the angler to catch Trout
through the winter with very minute roe in them, and in high
condition with the worm and Salmon roe, and also with night lines.
In fact, one of the fishermen has frequently remarked to me that
he occasionally caught dishes of Trout with the fly in January,
and in finer condition, than he has found them in April, which he
accounted for by saying that the spawned fish (Kelts) of that
season had not begun to rise freely at the fly at the former
period, but they had at the latter, so that his pannier contained
as many Kelts as fresh fish. Another reason has just occurred to
me: it is, that in January the spawned fish will still be in the
small brooks in which they are so fond of breeding, and of course
the bulk of the fish remaining in the river at that time would be
fish in good season.
As it is some years since I acquired this information, or at least
a part of it, I felt afraid of giving it incorrectly; and I
therefore addressed a letter to a friend living on the banks of
the Wharfe, requesting him to send me all the information in his
possession on this subject, that derived from his own observations,
as well as that collected from others. He has since the above was
written sent me the following reply:--"I have seen Robinson (one
of the best anglers and fly makers between Cornwall and Caithness),
and have had some conversation with him on the subject of Salmon,
&c. He is of opinion that the spawn of the Salmon remains five
months in the gravel before hatching; he examined the spawn in
April, and found the young fry alive in the eggs, and Ingham,
another angler, took some home and kept one of the Smolts two or
three months. I have subsequently seen Ingham, and he has given me
the same account. All the fishermen here are of opinion that the
female Smolts remain one year, and the males two years, before they
go down to the sea. The Bramblings are supposed to be Smolts which
remain a year longer than the usual time; they are few in number,
and are generally taken with the May fly. I have no doubt that the
above opinions are correct, for we have now three distinct sizes of
Smolts in the river exclusive of Bramblings, the largest of which
are nearly four ounces in weight, and are all males, as they
contain milt in October and November. The next are the females of
the present year: I have had one since the receipt of your letter,
which weighed half an ounce and measured five inches in length;
this was a real blue Smolt; the third are the males of the same
age, and are much smaller; these are occasionally taken with the
worm, and will rise at the fly all the next summer."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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