The _Salmon_ is ever bred in the fresh Rivers (and in most Rivers about
the month of _August_) and never grows big but in the Sea; and there to
an incredible bigness in a very short time; to which place they covet
to swim, by the instinct of nature, about a set time: but if they be
stopp'd by _Mills, Floud-gates_ or _Weirs_, or be by accident lost in
the fresh water, when the others go (which is usually by flocks or
sholes) then they thrive not.
And the old _Salmon_, both the _Melter_ and _Spawner_, strive also to
get into the _Sea_ before Winter; but being stopt that course, or lost;
grow sick in fresh waters, and by degrees unseasonable, and kipper,
that is, to have a bony gristle, to grow (not unlike a _Hauks_ beak) on
one of his chaps, which hinders him from feeding, and then he pines and
dies.
But if he gets to _Sea_, then that gristle wears away, or is cast off
(as the _Eagle_ is said to cast his bill) and he recovers his strength,
and comes next Summer to the same River, (if it be possible) to enjoy
the former pleasures that there possest him; for (as one has wittily
observed) he has (like some persons of Honour and Riches, which have
both their winter and Summer houses) the fresh Rivers for Summer, and
the salt water for winter to spend his life in; which is not (as Sir
_Francis Bacon_ hath observed) [in his History of Life and Death] above
ten years: And it is to be observed, that though they grow big in the
_Sea_, yet they grow not fat but in fresh Rivers; and it is observed,
that the farther they get from the _Sea_, the better they be.
And it is observed, that, to the end they may get far from the _Sea_,
either to Spawne or to possess the pleasure that they then and there
find, they will force themselves over the tops of _Weirs_, or _Hedges_,
or _stops_ in the water, by taking their tails into their mouthes, and
leaping over those places, even to a height beyond common belief: and
sometimes by forcing themselves against the streame through Sluces and
Floud-gates, beyond common credit. And 'tis observed by _Gesner_, that
there is none bigger then in _England_, nor none better then in Thames.
And for the _Salmons_ sudden growth, it has been observed by tying a
Ribon in the tail of some number of the young _Salmons_, which have
been taken in _Weires_, as they swimm'd towards the salt water, and
then by taking a part of them again with the same mark, at the same
place, at their returne from the Sea, which is usually about six months
after; and the like experiment hath been tried upon young _Swallows_,
who have after six months absence, been observed to return to the same
chimney, there to make their nests, and their habitations for the
Summer following; which hath inclined many to think, that every
_Salmon_ usually returns to the same River in which it was bred, as
young _Pigeons_ taken out of the same Dove-cote, have also been
observed to do.
And you are yet to observe further, that the He _Salmon_ is usually
bigger then the Spawner, and that he is more kipper, & less able to
endure a winter in the fresh water, then the She is; yet she is at that
time of looking less kipper and better, as watry and as bad meat.
And yet you are to observe, that as there is no general rule without an
exception, so there is some few Rivers in this Nation that have
_Trouts_ and _Salmon_ in season in winter. But for the observations of
that and many other things, I must in manners omit, because they wil
prove too large for our narrow compass of time, and therefore I shall
next fall upon my direction how to fish for the _Salmon_.
And for that, first, you shall observe, that usually he staies not long
in a place (as _Trouts_ wil) but (as I said) covets still to go neerer
the Spring head; and that he does not (as the _Trout_ and many other
fish) lie neer the water side or bank, or roots of trees, but swims
usually in the middle, and neer the ground; and that there you are to
fish for him; and that he is to be caught as the _Trout_ is, with a
_Worm_, a _Minnow_, (which some call a _Penke_) or with a _Fly_.
And you are to observe, that he is very, very seldom observed to bite
at a _Minnow_ (yet sometime he will) and not oft at a _fly_, but more
usually at a _Worm_, and then most usually at a _Lob_ or _Garden worm_,
which should be wel scowred, that is to say, seven or eight dayes in
Moss before you fish with them; and if you double your time of eight
into sixteen, or more, into twenty or more days, it is still the
better, for the worms will stil be clearer, tougher, and more lively,
and continue so longer upon your hook.
And now I shall tell you, that which may be called a secret: I have
been a fishing with old _Oliver Henly_ (now with God) a noted Fisher,
both for _Trout_ and _Salmon_, and have observed that he would usually
take three or four worms out of his bag and put them into a little box
in his pocket, where he would usually let them continue half an hour or
more, before he would bait his hook with them; I have ask'd him his
reason, and he has replied, _He did but pick the best out to be in a
readiness against he baited his hook the next time_: But he has been
observed both by others, and my self, to catch more fish then I or any
other body, that has ever gone a fishing with him, could do, especially
_Salmons_; and I have been told lately by one of his most intimate and
secret friends, that the box in which he put those worms was anointed
with a drop, or two, or three of the Oil of _Ivy-berries_, made by
expression or infusion, and that by the wormes remaining in that box an
hour, or a like time, they had incorporated a kind of smel that was
irresistibly attractive, enough to force any fish, within the smel of
them, to bite. This I heard not long since from a friend, but have not
tryed it; yet I grant it probable, and refer my Reader to Sir _Francis
Bacons_ Natural History, where he proves fishes may hear; and I am
certain _Gesner_ sayes, the _Otter_ can smell in the water, and know
not that but fish may do so too: 'tis left for a lover of Angling, or
any that desires to improve that Art, to try this conclusion.
I shall also impart another experiment (but not tryed by my selfe)
which I wil deliver in the same words as it was by a friend, given me
in writing.
_Take the stinking oil drawn out of_ Poly pody _of the_ Oak, _by a
retort mixt with_ Turpentine, _and Hive-honey, and annoint your bait
therewith, and it will doubtlesse draw the fish to it_.
But in these things I have no great faith, yet grant it probable, and
have had from some chemical men (namely, from Sir _George Hastings_ and
others) an affirmation of them to be very advantageous: but no more of
these, especially not in this place.
I might here, before I take my leave of the _Salmon_, tell you, that
there is more then one sort of them, as namely, a _Tecon_, and another
called in some places a _Samlet_, or by some, a _Skegger_: but these
(and others which I forbear to name) may be fish of another kind, and
differ, as we know a _Herring_ and a _Pilcher_ do; but must by me be
left to the disquisitions of men of more leisure and of greater
abilities, then I profess myself to have.
And lastly, I am to borrow so much of your promised patience, as to
tell you, that the _Trout_ or _Salmon_, being in season, have at their
first taking out of the water (which continues during life) their
bodies adorned, the one with such red spots, and the other with black
or blackish spots, which gives them such an addition of natural
beautie, as I (that yet am no enemy to it) think was never given to any
woman by the Artificial Paint or Patches in which they so much pride
themselves in this age. And so I shall leave them and proceed to some
Observations of the _Pike_.