SOME HEAVY BASKETS AND BIG FISH 131 



day's sport which has there come under my own ob- 

 servation may perhaps be considered worthy of a 

 brief notice. It took place on June 8, 1897. Mr. 

 T. D. Croft and I killed between us sixty-nine trout, of 

 which number he claimed forty-nine. These forty- 

 nine were caught with the Mayfly in a little Derbyshire 

 stream called the Bradford ; the twenty I killed were 

 taken with the ash-dun and blue-dun on the Lath- 

 kill, into which river the Bradford flows. The fish 

 were a good Derbyshire sample, averaging well over 

 half a pound each. I see from my diary that there 

 was cold rain and wind on this day. 



It is a curious fact that for the last two seasons 

 the Mayfly has become almost a thing of the past on 

 the Lathkill, though on the Bradford it exists in as 

 great quantities as formerly. This explains why the 

 trout I caught on this occasion were nearly all taken 

 on duns, while Mr. Croft's succumbed to the fascina- 

 tion of the Mayfly. 



It is the more remarkable, as the two rivers in 

 question join at a point where the fishing is usually 

 considered to be as good as anywhere in the district ; 

 and yet of recent years as soon as ever the Bradford 

 becomes absorbed by the Lathkill, the Mayfly is 

 absent ; though there is, as far as can be discovered, 

 no difference whatever in vegetation, weed, river-bed, 



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