The Shad is in higher perfection in the Severn than in any other river in Great Britain. It appears there in May, and in very warm seasons, in April; it continues about two months. At its first appearance, it is esteemed a very delicate fish; especially at Gloucester, where it sells dearer than Salmon. The London fishmongers distinguish it from that of the Thames by the French name of Alose. Whether they spawn in the Severn and Wye, is not determined, as their fry has not yet been ascertained. The old fish come from the sea in full roe.
The fishermen imagine, very erroneously, that the Bleak, which appear in multitudes near Gloucester in the months of July and August, are the fry of the Shad: many of these are taken in those months only; but none of the emaciated Shad are ever caught in their return.
The Thames Shad does not frequent the river till the month of July, and is thought a very coarse, insipid fish. At that time, the Twaite, a variety of Shad which makes its appearance in Gloucester, and is taken in great numbers in the Severn, but held in as great disrepute as the Shad of the Thames. The real Shad weighs sometimes eight pounds; but in general from four to five. The Twaite, on the contrary, weighs from half a pound to two pounds, which it never exceeds. It only differs from the small Shad, by having one or more black spots on its side, which are generally placed one under the other.
Tinca: Tenche: A Tench. Eliza. Albin Delin. May 27. 1737.
The TENCH
Is, in Icthyology, the English name of the Tinca of the modern authors; but, according to the Artedian and Linnæan system, a species of the Cyprinus. It is distinguished by Artedi by the name of the blackish, mucous, or slimy Cyprinus, with the end of the tail even.
