54 MODERN SEA FISHING 



of no particular account except for eels and smelts, and, it 

 need hardly be said, flat fish ; but occasionally there are plenty 

 of whiting in the deep water between Branksea Island and the 

 harbour mouth. 



Bournemouth was once a noted place for bad fishing ; but 

 since the population of the town has increased, the sewage 

 appears to have attracted the fish, and very large takes are 

 now being made every autumn not far from the pierhead, 

 where the drains discharge themselves into the sea. Besides the 

 fishing over the sewer, there are a good many wrasse, pouts, 

 dabs, and other fish to be taken about a mile or a mile and 

 a half from the pierhead. Owing to the steam traffic there is 

 hardly any fishing from the pier ; but things are a little better 

 at Boscombe Pier, one and a half mile distant. Bass, pollack, 

 and mackerel are at times fairly plentiful off Christchurch at 

 the common mouth of the Stour and the Avon. 



With regard to the Solent and Southampton Water little 

 need be said. Huge steamers, torpedo practice, men-of-war, 

 gunnery practice, and all the other incidents of our present 

 high state of civilisation have driven away most of the fish, 

 sand dabs and plaice (good takes of which are sometimes made 

 in winter close to the Brambles shoal) perhaps excepted. 

 There is also whiting fishing on the north edge of the 

 Brambles, and on the Peel and Middle banks. In the early 

 autumn a good many whiting and not a few flat fish are caught 

 off Cowes, but the tidal currents are so strong that fishing can 

 only be carried on for about two and a half hours between the 

 tides. Bass and mullet are sometimes seen, but rarely caught 

 in the Medina. The Solent is mercilessly trawled. 



About Portsmouth are traditions of bass, though very few 

 are caught ; but to the eastward, where the sewage of this im- 

 portant naval town empties itself into the sea at Langstone 

 Harbour, there are plenty of flat fish. There is a little in- 



