CHAPTER XXII. 



STOCKING PONDS 



Bui we'll take do oare when the mother prom fair; 



11 ill we vex though it rain ; 

 We'll banish nil sorrow, and sing till to-morrow, 

 And angle, ami ai in." — 



\/wk Walton. 



Excellent fishing might frequently be had in ponds close to 

 one's owu residence, ponds to which you need make no expensive 

 pilgrimage, as for the mountain-loving Mahseer, ponds to which 

 you might easily resort any morning or evening that you had an 

 hour or so to spare. Golden opportunities for creating excellent 

 sport are thrown away through want of knowledge, so 1 shall 

 venture a few words on stocking ponds in India. 



First, I will tell you of a little experiment which 1 made 

 myself. Close to my house at Vallam.in the Tanjore District, was 

 a rain-fed pond of some three to five acres of waterspread, as my 

 memory runs. It ran very dry in the famine, and the opportunity 

 was taken to clear it out for sanitary purposes. Thus it had been 

 cleared of all predatory Bah, and this was my opportunity. When 

 it refilled with water, I put in about 2 lbs. weight of well sel< 

 try of non-predatory fish. Their intrinsic value was about 2 annas, 



Zd., but, by reason of my living 7 miles from the river, 1 

 actually paid 2 rupees, Bay 4&, for them. I threw in a handful 

 of small snails, ami 1 prohibited any sort of fishing for eighteen 

 months. I soon saw the banks lined with young and 



rved that the fish were doing well At the I the 



eighteen months' rest, I made it known that any one might fish 

 with rod and line as much as ever they liked for nothing. 

 The banks soon showed increasing numbers of native anglers. 

 When they had got well accustomed to it. and were thoroughly 



1 III: BOD IN INDIA. I -' 



