THE HERTFORDSHIRE STREAMS 72> 



direction, passing How Street station, Standon, 



and Thundridge. This stream, like the Ouin, 



flows through a quiet country half arable 



T • 111 The Rib 



and half pasture. It is a chalk stream 



with a bed now of mud and now of gravel. In some 

 parts of the stream trout are plentiful, but not near 

 the Lea, where coarse fish arc too abundant. In 

 the upper parts of the Rib a sizable trout is one of 

 three quarters of a pound. Fish run to 3lbs., and I 

 have a record of one weighing 5.Ubs. Lower down 

 stream the weight of trout killed varies from lib. 

 to 2lbs. The May-fly comes on about May 20th, 

 and lasts a fortnight or so. This, the alder anci 

 Wickham fancy arc good flies for the lower por- 

 tion of the stream, and the dry fly method of 

 angling when the stream is fairly clear seems to 

 be the most effective. The Rib is a sluggish 

 water, seldom very bright and after heavy rain 

 it becomes decidedly foul, and at such times 

 the dry fly is not of course of much good. A 

 gentleman who has fished the upper portions of 

 the stream for a quarter of a century recommends 

 the following flies : — March brown. May fly, alder, 

 coachman, red and black palmers, coch-a-bonddu 

 and the ordinary duns. He says that the fish 

 have grown far more wary than when he first 

 angled for them, and he no longer gets the large 

 baskets he once did in May fly time. A great deal 

 of re-stocking at various times has taken place, and 

 there are now two angling clubs on the stream, one 

 at Standon and the other — ^just starting — at 

 Youngsbury. The coarse fish of the Rib include 

 pike, perch, dace, roach, chub, and gudgeon. These 

 thrive principally in the lower portions of the stream, 

 which is much overgrown and very weedy. 



