Randy Padgham, age 10, of Old Fort, North Carolina, for his question:

 

What is a grilse?

The story of the grilse begins when parent salmon leave the ocean to swim up the fresh water streams where they were born. On the gravel floor of the fresh, running water, the female scoops out a large hollow nest, which is called a redd. She lays perhaps 10,000 eggs and the male salmon swims over them to fertilize them. Then the weary parents usually die. After several weeks, the eggs hatch into strange little creatures which are called alevins.

The alevins hide for a couple of months, feeding on yolk from their eggs. When they begin to look like small fishes, they are called salmon fry. Through the next year they journey toward the sea and grow to be about five inches long. At this stage of their lives they are called smolts. Next spring they are slim, silvery grey fishes of the sea, about 16 inches long. At this stage of their lives the teenage salmon are called grilse. They will continue to grow in the ocean and at some future time they will be parents and return to their streams.