THE WESTERN AND SOUTH-WESTERN COUNTIES. 125 



the rod one hundred pounds weight of salmon with the fly, exclu- 

 sive of a fair projjortipn of good trout. But these exploits arc 

 not always to DC implicitly relied on. Unquestionably the Wye 

 stands high in piscatory repute ; and an excursion along its banks 

 cannot fail to prove a rich treat to any rod-fisher. The scenery in 

 some parts of the river is beautiful. 



The other rivers of the county we have just enumerated, partake 

 very much of the same character with the Wye and tributaries to 

 it. The rod-fishing is good, but some considerable sections of 

 these waters are preserved, a circumstance which greatly impedes- 

 the movements and sours the temper of the tourist, when he has 

 come from a distance on a random sort of visit. 



The fishable rivers in Oxfordshire are the Thames, the Isis, the 

 Wind/rush, the Evenlode, and the Cherwell. Father Thames becomes 

 in this locality a more manageable stream for the rod, and he yields 

 capital sport when the waters are in full order. The Isis, which 

 forms an integral part of this famous river, springs out of the 

 parish of Coates in Gloucestershire. It is of little repute for the 

 scientific angler. Bottom-fishing is the staple commodity of the 

 Oxfordshire craft. 



The Axe, in Dorsetshire, is one of the finest of the rivers in this 

 part of England for trout-fishing. It rises near Axeknoller, Bea- 

 minster, in this county, and flowing by the towns of Axminster' 

 and Colyton, falls into the Channel on the east coast of Devonshire. 

 As a fishing stream it^ cannot be surpassed, either for the beauty 

 of its scenery or the rippling pleasantness of its waters. There is 

 a constant succession of fine streams and deep pools, and its 

 gravelly bed is admirably fitted for the trout and salmon. There 

 are likewise dace and eels in considerable numbers. Its waters 

 are open to all anglers, and the absence of anything like trouble- 

 some brushwood adds greatly to the facility and ease of the rod- 

 iisher's movements. It has suffered considerably from a lawless 

 and reckless system of poaching, but this has been in some degree 

 checked by an angling association formed at Crewkerne; by the 

 rules of which the season commences on the 1st March, and ends 

 on the 1st of October. This is a wise regulation. We have often 

 thought and felt the force of the truth ourselves that English 

 rod-fishers should be very sparing of their trout-fishing even in 

 the month of September; but, at' any rate, the 1st of October is 

 late enough. This, with other stringent regulations on the Axe ? 

 have made its waters once more a place where a good day's sport 

 can be obtained by the honest and fair angler. The trout do not 

 run very large, averaging about six to eight ounces ; still this is 

 no insignificant magnitude. The two principal fishing stations are 

 Crewkerne for the higher sections of the water, and Axminster for 

 the central and lower. But there is abundance of accommodation 

 in every direction along the banks of this really beautiful and 

 interesting stream. 



The other rivers that run more less in this county, are the Cha-rr 



