Volume 39, Plate I / Ichthyology (Fish)

Smelt, or Sperling & Grayling

Osmerus operlanus & Thymallus vulgaris

1. The Smelt or Sperling. Procured in great quantities along most of our sea coasts, the Smelt is prized for a delicate flavour and a peculiar scent likened to green rushes, cucumbers, or violets. It frequents sandy bays near river mouths, ascending into fresh water from August to May to spawn, and feeds chiefly on small Crustacea and shrimps.
2. The Grayling. Measuring seven to eighteen inches and weighing half a pound to four or five pounds, the Grayling has a small head, golden irides, large scales, and a light yellowish brown body bearing about fifteen dusky longitudinal bands. Somewhat gregarious, it requires cool water combining stream and pool, spawns in April, feeds on river flies and small shells, and is distributed chiefly through English and Welsh rivers but not Scotland or Ireland.