316 



THAMES TROUT. 



of Littlecote, who used to send the late Duke of Welling- 

 tou a brace of very large fish every year. 



The oldpost-boy of the "White Hart," at Whitchurch, 

 one " Bones/' told me that he once tasted a piece of one 

 of these trout that weighed 131bs. 



Lord Dorchester also Avrote from Greywell Hill, 

 Winchfield :— " A trout was taken in the mill-head here 

 that weighed 141bs. Not being in condition it w^as put 

 below the mill, and thence stolen. It must have in 

 flood time come over a grate placed above the head to 

 keep the jack from ascending. Our best fish feed upon 

 a species of fresh-water shrimp." 



The trout in the Thames occasionally attain a very 

 large size. My friend Mr. Forbes, of Chertsey, has a 

 cast of a magnificent trout which he caught spinning at 

 Chertsey weir. This cast, which I made, was afterw^ards 

 painted by Mr. Eolfe, and magnificently mounted in an 

 appropriate case. This splendid fish weighed 161bs. 



On the 19tli of April, 1880, a grand specimen of 

 Thames trout was caught spinning by a local fisherman 

 at Messrs. Ayres' wharf, Eeading. The lion. sec. of tlie 

 Eeading Angling Association, Mr. A. C. Butler, kindly 

 brought up the fish to me directly to cast. The weight 

 was 161bs. 15 oz. 



After the fish was cast it was conveyed to Windsor 

 Castle and presented to Her Majesty through Sii' Henry 

 Ponsonby, Comptroller of the Household. 



TROUT LICENSES. 



I am glad to say that common trout are now being 

 protected by Act of Parliament. 



By the Freshwater Fisheries Act, 1878, the Board of 

 Conservators is empowered to issue licenses for trout 

 fishing. There many rivers and portions of rivers, or 



