The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1882-05-11
Instincts OF Trout.

orally speaking, thunder storm
is regard ed by trout fishers as putting a
decisive stop to their operations. 1t is
not always the case, however, that front
then cease rising. Just as pheasants al
ways crow loudly after clap of thunder
and the electrical state of the atmos-
phere at such time has curious effect
upon cells, causing them to be much
moro active than ut other times, so Mr..
W. Henderson relates case of unwonted
activity in trout during thunder storm
and that at night. Between the flashes
he cast his flies, straight across rushing
mill stream in the Black Forest. 81
fished the stream steadily downward" he
writes (''My Life as an Angler" page
1897, ''for about hundred yards. The
lightning showed me where to throw my
flies; all around was inky blackness. I
cast and rarely failed to hook or take q
fish. The strength of the current en-
abled many a fish to break away, but at
the end of half an hour my basket held
eight fish; and when they were tabled
three trout, three grayling, and two fish
resembling club. The least was three
quarters of pound in weight, and the
largest pound and q half-altogether
beautiful dish, and the fish by far the
largest in size that had captured dur
ing my weeks angling" Most anglers
mist have noticed when fiy-fishing in the
dark that after certain moment. as If
some piscine curfew had rung under
water, every rising fish stops, and none
can be taken afterward for some time.
I found this to be the case night after
plight in the balmy darkness of June in
Devon last year; and Mr.. Henderson re-
lates the same thing of the Wear, when,
Immediately before, his ears had been
assailed "by such tumult of fish splat-
tering and splashing as had never be-
fore heard, the water seemed alive with
large fish. There seemed something
uncanny in the affair" Before the cessa-
tor of their rise, however. he had secur-
ed six trout, as in the previous case, con-
siderably larger than any which he could
capture by day.-London Field.
CAPTURE OF HERRING KINa.-A very
rare and highly interesting catch was
made the other day on the Norwegian
coasts so. called HERRING king" The
herring king ("regalecus") belongs to
the family of ribbon fishes 30 called, and
has hitherto been found in three differ
emit forms, always of remarkable size.
nearly six metres long, thirty.seven cen
timetres wide, and Of ribbon-like thin
ness. The animal lives at considerable
depth, whence it is easily explained that
it rarely comes to the surface or is thrown
on the beach. Very few geological
collections may boast Of possessing q
specimen; none has well-preserved
one, the different parts Of this remark
able fish being SO tender and brittle as
to break even at the mere touch OF the
hand. The specimen above alluded to
was most carefully transported to Stanan-
ger, and is without doubt the best pre-
served one extant. II is female, meas
uring four metres in length, thirty-four
centimetres in width and eight cent?
metres ct its thickest part; the ovaria
are ninetyfour centmetres long and Allied
with millions Of eggs Of the size Of .
grain Of sand. The Stavanger museum
ordered tin box made TO keep it in, re-
quiring forty litres Of alcohol for the
purpose Of proper preservation. Paris
American Register.