Hal.—There are many larger trouts here: go on fishing and you will hook some of them. And when you are tired of this rapid, you will find another a quarter of a mile below. And continue to fish with a short line, and drop your fly, or let it be carried by the wind on the water, as lightly as possible. Well, Poietes, what success?
Poiet.—I have been fishing in the stream above; but the flies are so abundant, that the large fish will not take my artificial fly, and I have caught only three fish, all of which the fisherman has thrown into the water, though I am sure one of them was more than 2lbs.
Hal.—You may trust his knowledge: with a new angler, our keeper would be apt rather to favour the fisherman than the fish. But we will have all fish you wish to be killed, and above 2lbs., put into the well of the boat, where they can be examined, and, if you desire, weighed and measured, and such kept as are worth keeping. No good angler should kill a fish, if possible, till he is needed to be crimped; for the sooner he is dressed after this operation the better;—and I assure you, a well-fed trout of the Colne, crimped and cooled ten minutes before he is wanted for the kettle or the gridiron, is a fish little inferior to the best salmon of the best rivers. It is now nearly two o’clock, and there is a cloud over the sun; the fly is becoming less abundant; you are now likely, Poietes, to have better sport. Try in that deep pool, below the Tumbling Bay; I see two or three good fish rising there, and there is a lively breeze. The largest fish refuses your fly again and again; try the others. There, you have hooked him; now carry him down stream, and keep his head high, out of the weeds. He plunges and fights with great force;—he is the best-fed fish I have yet seen at the end of the line, and will weigh more in proportion to his length. I will land him for you. There he is,—and measures 19 inches; and I dare say his weight is not much short of 3lbs. We will preserve him in the well.
Poiet.—He has hardly any spots, and is silvery all over; and the whole of the lower part of his body is beautifully clean.
Hal.—He is likewise broad-backed; and you may observe his few spots are black, and these are very small. I have always remarked, in this river, that the nearer the fish approach to perfection, the colour of the body becomes more uniform,—pale olive above, and bright silver below; and these qualities are always connected with a small head,—or rather, an oval body, and deep-red flesh.
Poiet.—May not the red spots be marks of disease—a hectic kind of beauty? For I observed in a very thin and poor fish, and great-headed, that I caught an hour ago, which had leeches sticking to it, a number of red spots, and a long black back, and black or bluish marks even on the belly.
Hal.—I do not think red spots a symptom of disease; for I have seen fish in other rivers, and even small fish in this river, in perfectly good season, with red spots; but the colours of fish are very capricious, and depend upon causes which cannot be easily defined. The colouring matter is not in the scales, but in the surface of the skin immediately beneath them, and is probably a secretion easily affected by the health of the animal. I have known fish, from some lakes in Ireland, mottled in a most singular way,—their colour being like that of the tortoise: the nature of the water, exposure to the light, and probably the kind of food, produce these effects. I think it possible, when trout feed much on hard substances, such as larvæ and their cases, and the ova of other fish, they have more red spots, and redder fins. This is the case with the gillaroo and the char, who feed on analogous substances: and the trout, that have similar habits, might be expected to resemble them. When trout feed most on small fish, as minnows, and on flies, they have more tendency to become spotted with small black spots, and are generally more silvery. The Colne trout are, in their advanced state, of this kind; and so are the trout called in Ireland buddocks and dolochans, found in Loch Neah. Particular character becomes hereditary, and the effects of a peculiar food influence the appearance of the next generation. I hope, Ornither, you have had good sport.
Orn.—Excellent! Since you left me, below the wear, I have hooked at least fifteen or twenty good fish, and landed and saved eight above 2lbs.; but I have taken no fish like the great one which I caught by poaching with the natural flies. The trout rose wonderfully well within the last quarter of an hour, but they are now all still; and the river, which was in such active motion, is now perfectly quiet, and seems asleep and almost dead.
Hal.—It is past four o’clock, and some dark, heavy clouds are come on,—the fly is off. It is almost the hour for the signal of the dressing bell; and there is nothing more to be done now till evening. But see! our host is come to examine our fish in the well, and to enquire about our sport; and, I dare say, will order some of our fish to be dressed for the table.
Host.—I hope, gentlemen, you have been amused?