1 66 Walton and Unfair Fishing. 



profess no knowledge of the Law, yet 

 I am sure the regulation of these defects 

 might be easily mended. But I remem- 

 ber that a wise friend of mine did usually 

 say, That which is every bodies business, is 

 no bodies business. If it were otherwise, 

 there could not be so many Nets and Fish 

 that are under the statute size, sold daily 

 amongst us, and of which the Conservators 

 of the Waters should be ashamed. 



"But above all, the taking Fish in 

 spawning time, may be said to be against 

 nature ; it is like taking the dam from her 

 nest when she hatches her young." 



It is a bold thing to say, but I doubt 

 if these words of Walton had not been 

 ringing down the centuries ever louder 

 and louder, that our fresh-water fisheries 

 would have long ago been destroyed. 

 These and many similar passages in which 

 unfair and unseasonable fishing is de- 

 nounced have kept alive the true sporting 

 instinct among anglers, and enabled them 

 of late years, when by combination they 

 became powerful, to obtain from our 

 governments laws for the protection of 

 their interests which as individuals they 

 asked for in vain. 



As regards many of the baits recom- 

 mended by Walton, present-day anglers 

 have, as a rule, no knowledge of them, and 



