The dace is another fish which gives sport to the fly-fisherman. It will not thrive in ponds. In some rivers, however, where trout—brown trout, at any rate—will not thrive, the dace does very well. In the case of the Sussex Ouse this is most remarkable. Little more than ten years ago there were no dace in that river, now it swarms with them. Their presence is attributed to the fact that some dace, brought there as live-baits for pike, escaped destruction and established the present stock. Sluggish and muddy rivers seem to produce the best dace. Chubb, which also possess many points to recommend them to the fisherman, will also do well in such rivers.
To those who enjoy bottom fishing and possess a pond, even a small one, I can recommend no fish more highly than the king-carp. It is a much bolder-feeding and gamer fish than the common carp, and is just as easy to introduce. While dealing with carp I may mention that the goldfish, when introduced into a suitable pond, grows to a very large size. I have caught them over a pound in weight.
The perch is a very prolific fish, and will thrive in ponds with a very small stream running into them, and in sluggish rivers. Other coarse fish are as a rule easy to introduce into a water. Though perch fry form excellent food for trout, perch, and of course pike, should be kept out of a trout water.
The suitability of a water depends to a great extent (as to its capacity of supporting a healthy stock of fish) upon its having plenty of suitable vegetation upon the banks. Therefore if the banks are bare of vegetation, willows and alders, as being quick growing and easily established trees, should be freely planted upon the banks. This fortunately is very easily done, for willow and alder sticks cut and put into the ground in the spring are pretty sure to do well. It is needless to say that the moister spots should be chosen for the willows, though they will do well in suitable soil in comparatively dry places. Besides giving shade and shelter to the fish, which is always an important consideration, a considerable quantity of food is bred upon trees and shrubs at the water side. I have found as many as eighteen caterpillars in the stomach of a trout which I caught under an overhanging oak tree.
CHAPTER IV
TROUT. PRELIMINARY HINTS AND ADVICE
The amateur who is beginning trout culture had better by all means buy eyed ova from a fish cultural establishment. There are many of these in the British Isles, and nowadays eyed ova are packed and sent safely all over the country. The artificial spawning of trout is not an undertaking in which the beginner is likely to achieve great success, and therefore I should advise him to avoid relying upon it when he commences his operations as a fish culturist.
Collecting the ova of wild trout is also an operation of some difficulty, and lays the beginner open to much more disappointment than if he deals with eyed ova purchased from a reliable establishment. Instead of having to watch and care for the ova through a critical and dangerous period, he receives them shortly before the young fish hatch out, when the ova are not in the most delicate stage.
It is of the greatest importance that everything should be ready for the ova long before they are expected, as hurry and new apparatus are likely to cause failure. Any concrete and varnished or enamelled woodwork should be exposed to the action of a current of water for at least five or six weeks before they are brought into actual use.
The choice of a suitable spot in which to make his hatchery is a serious point for the consideration of the amateur. A spring is the best water supply as a rule, for the water is usually of a fairly even temperature, and does not require filtering, but water from a stream where trout are known to live is quite safe. A few years ago it would have been necessary for any one wishing to take up fish culture, to erect a building in which to place his hatchery if he intended to hatch any number of eggs, in order to guard against frosts. At the present time, the eyed ova of even the brown trout (Salmo fario) can be obtained sufficiently late to be safe against a frost severe enough to cause any damage, and as the rainbow trout (Salmo irideus) spawns in February and March, the amateur is, at the time he receives the eyed ova, quite safe from frost.