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taken by minnow-spinning, which weighed 

 together fifty-four pounds, the largest of them 

 thirteen pounds. Few persons are aware of 

 the difficulty of taking a trout when it has 

 attained twelve or fourteen pounds' weight, and 

 it is very seldom that one of this size is hooked 

 and landed except by a first-rate fisherman : 

 such a fish, when in good condition, is con- 

 sidered a present worthy of a place at a royal 

 table. Among performances in trout-catching, 

 the following may be mentioned, as found in 

 the MS. of the late Colonel Montagu : " Mr. 

 Popham, of Littlecot, in the county of Wilts, 

 was famous for a trout fishery. They were con- 

 fined to a certain portion of a river by grating, 

 so that fish of a moderate size could not escape. 

 To the preserving and fattening of these fish, 

 much trouble and expense were devoted, and 

 fish of seven and eight pounds' weight were not 

 uncommon. A gentleman at Lackham, in the 

 same county, had a favourite water-spaniel, that 

 was condemned to suffer death for killing all the 

 carp in his master's ponds, but was reprieved 

 at the desire of Mr. Popham, who took charge 

 of him, in the belief that so shy and so swift a 

 fish as a trout, was not to be caught by a dog. 

 However, in this he was mistaken, for the dog 

 soon convinced him that his largest trout were 

 not a match for him." 



