And next you are to note, That till the sun gets to such a height as to
warm the earth and the water, the Trout is sick, and lean, and lousy,
and unwholesome; for you shall, in winter, find him to have a big head,
and, then, to be lank and thin and lean; at which time many of them have
sticking on them Sugs, or Trout-lice; which is a kind of a worm, in
shape like a clove, or pin with a big head, and sticks close to him, and
sucks his moisture, those, I think, the Trout breeds himself: and never
thrives till he free himself from them, which is when warm weather
comes; and, then, as he grows stronger, he gets from the dead still
water into the sharp streams and the gravel, and, there, rubs off these
worms or lice; and then, as he grows stronger, so he gets him into
swifter and swifter streams, and there lies at the watch for any fly or
minnow that comes near to him; and he especially loves the May-fly,
which is bred of the cod-worm, or cadis; and these make the Trout bold
and lusty, and he is usually fatter and better meat at the end of that
month than at any time of the year.
Now you are to know that it is observed, that usually the best Trouts
are either red or yellow; though some, as the Fordidge Trout, be white
and yet good; but that is not usual: and it is a note observable, that
the female Trout hath usually a less head, and a deeper body than the
male Trout, and is usually the better meat. And note, that a hog back
and a little head, to either Trout, Salmon or any other fish, is a sign
that that fish is in season.
But yet you are to note, that as you see some willows or palm-trees bud
and blossom sooner than others do, so some Trouts be, in rivers, sooner
in season: and as some hollies, or oaks, are longer before they cast
their leaves, so are some Trouts, in rivers, longer before they go out
of season.
And you are to note, that there are several kinds of Trouts: but these
several kinds are not considered but by very few men; for they go under
the general name of Trouts; just as pigeons do, in most places; though
it is certain, there are tame and wild pigeons; and of the tame, there
be hermits and runts, and carriers and cropers, and indeed too many to
name. Nay, the Royal Society have found and published lately, that there
be thirty and three kinds of spiders; and yet all, for aught I know, go
under that one general name of spider. And it is so with many kinds of
fish, and of Trouts especially; which differ in their bigness, and
shape, and spots, and colour. The great Kentish hens may be an instance,
compared to other hens: and, doubtless, there is a kind of small Trout,
which will never thrive to be big; that breeds very many more than
others do, that be of a larger size: which you may rasher believe, if
you consider that the little wren and titmouse will have twenty young
ones at a time, when, usually, the noble hawk, or the musical thrassel
or blackbird, exceed not four or five.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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