A HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 



respectively. One ot the largest ever caught on 

 the Trent with rod and line weighed 2f lb.; 

 it was taken in winter at the Erewash mouth. 

 Mr. J. Theaker, a well-known Nottingham 

 angler, killed a brace in the Weston fishery that 

 scaled I lb. 14! oz. and lib. i^oz. respec- 

 tively. One of the most successful roach fishers 

 in the district is Mr. F. W. K. Wallis of Long 

 Eaton, a member of the Nottingham Wellington 

 Angling Society, who is very fond of creed wheat 

 as a bait. In the Nottingham Museum is a 

 roach which he caught at Shardlow in 1894, 

 weighing i lb. io oz. A capital spot for this 

 branch of the sport is Attenborough Bend. 



There is a tradition that a bream weighing 

 17 lb. was once taken from the Trent, and it is 

 on record that two carp bream, weighing re- 

 spectively i2f lb. and la^-lb., were caught by 

 Mr. Beck in his eel nets at Hoveringham. As 

 ;i rule bream run from 3 to 5 lb. each, and there 

 are some famous haunts of this fish on the river. 

 Out of a bream hole below Newark upwards of 

 2 tons were taken with nets some twenty-five 

 years ago. The best baits seem to be cockspur, 

 brandling, and lob-worms ; ground-baiting with 

 lob worms is most successful, although big bags 

 are sometimes taken with lures of a most unusual 

 description. 



The predatory pike does not attain a very 

 large size in the Trent, one of 2O lb. being an 

 exceptional catch. Spinning is the method 

 most in vogue, but occasionally pike are captured 

 with a worm. In the Nottingham Museum 

 may be seen one of 19 lb. caught at King's Mills 

 in 1896, and another of 2O lb. taken at King- 

 ston reservoir, near Belvoir. 



Dace are found in innumerable swims in the 

 Trent, and fishing for them is a speciality with 

 many local anglers, cad baits, gentles, lobs, cock- 

 spurs, and red worms being used according to 

 the season. In the Trent a half-pound dace is 

 a good one, but occasional captures of 9 or 10 oz. 

 apiece are made. Mr. J. Griffin caught a dace 

 of 9! oz. at Beeston and one weighing 8J oz. 

 fell a victim to Mr. H. Spray's skill in 1889. 

 These, however, appear insignificant when com- 

 pared with two which were in the possession of 

 Mr. S. Pogson of Nottingham. They were 

 netted out of a small private pond near Newstead 

 Abbey and weighed I lb. 3 drachms and 13^02. 

 respectively. 



Eels are plentiful, and often attain a consider- 

 able size in the Trent, even six-pounders being 

 not uncommon. On one occasion two weigh- 

 ing 8 lb. and 7 lb. respectively were caught on 

 a night-line at Collingham with a nest of young 

 blackbirds for bait. The flounder is found in 

 considerable numbers in the lower reaches of the 

 Trent, and occasional baskets of tench are caught. 

 The ruff, or pope, affords practice for the young 

 .angler, and the burbot is sometimes taken. 



Porpoises are occasionally attracted up the river 



by the salmon, and prove a great nuisance to 

 anglers. One was shot at Laneham in May 

 1907, thus incidentally dispelling a popular belief 

 in the neighbourhood that it was impossible to 

 shoot a porpoise with a gun on account of its 

 tough hide. Sturgeon are occasionally captured 

 at Averham Weir, the heaviest caught in the 

 district of late years weighing 20 stone. 



The only trout-fishing of any note in the 

 county is to be obtained in the Dover Beck and 

 the Greet, and both these tributaries of the 

 Trent are strictly preserved. The Dover Beck 

 rises near Blidworth, and passes through Oxton, 

 Woodborough, and Lowdham, falling into the 

 Trent near Caythorpe. It holds some fine 

 trout, up to 5 lb. in weight, and is well 

 stocked with chub and dace. The Greet, which 

 rises near Farnsfield, and flows by Southwell and 

 Fiskerton to the Trent, is an even better trout 

 stream, and restocking operations have recently 

 been carried out on several sections of the river. 

 Efforts have also been made by the Wellington 

 Angling Society to secure trout-fishing on certain 

 reaches of the Trent. Analyses of the water 

 having proved satisfactory, the society in 1899 

 purchased a batch of Loch Leven and brown 

 trout from the Milton Hatchery and turned them 

 into the shallows at Donington Corner, Shard - 

 low. Since that time a large quantity of trout 

 of the Milton strain, including 10,000 fry and a 

 lot of two- and three-year-olds, have been put 

 into the river, and are said to have thriven well. 

 The other leading angling societies in Notting- 

 ham and the Trent Fishery Board have co- 

 operated in this interesting experiment, and to- 

 day there are a fair number of trout on the 

 reaches extending from Shardlow to Wilford, 

 and from Hoveringham to Fiskerton. They do 

 not, however, seem to rise very freely to the 

 artificial fly, and the best specimens killed have 

 fallen to the attractions of the cockspur worm, 

 used in tight-floating style. Jem Morris, the 

 Wellington Society's bailiff, landed a beautiful 

 specimen, weighing about 6 lb., in perfect con- 

 dition, while fishing for barbel at Shardlow four 

 years ago. 



Nottingham has many angling associations, 

 among which may be mentioned the Wellington 

 Angling Society, the Nottingham Piscatorial 

 Society, the Nottinghamshire Anglers' Associa- 

 tion, and the Waltonians. The Wellington 

 Society rents the exclusive right of fishing from 

 both banks of that portion of the River Trent 

 which extends from the iron railway bridge at 

 Castle Donington to opposite the Red House below 

 Cavendish Bridge on the south side, and to 

 Crowder's Eve on the north side of the river a 

 total distance of about 4 miles. The society has 

 also, by the generous gift of the late Sir Henry 

 Bromley, the exclusive right of fishing the south 

 bank of the Trent from the island below 

 Hazelford Ferry to the wharf in Stoke Park. 





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