BUCKS OXON, AND GLOUCESTER STREAMS 8i 



stream, and Froudc was scarcely guilty of an un- 

 pardonable exaggeration when he enthusiastically 

 declared, " a day's fishing at Chenies means a day 

 by the best water in England in the fisherman's 

 paradise of solitude." The May-fly is very variable 

 on the Chess, some seasons hatching only in small 

 quantities and at others in great profusion. In 

 1896 there was a very great hatch of the May-fly. 

 The olive dun is the chief insect on the Chess, 

 appearing throughout the season ; indeed, after the 

 end of the season of 1897 I noticed a really good 

 hatch of olives on a sunny autumnal afternoon, 

 and trout taking them freely. The artificial flies 

 commonly used by anglers are the March brown, 

 olive or blue dun, red spinner, alder, black gnat, 

 governor, and a large grey sedge. Besides trout 

 and grayling, the stream in parts contains perch, 

 roach, and pike. Some American brook trout 

 {fontinalis) and rainbow trout {irideus) were put 

 in the water some seasons since near Chesham. 



Both wet and dry fly are used, but in the rougher 

 water the former seems to account for the better 

 baskets. On the other hand, there are pieces of 

 water on the stream, as, for instance, the still 

 stretch above the mill and fall at Chenies, which 

 are particularly well adapted to the floating fly 

 over the rising trout ; and it is here that some of 

 the best trout are to be found. Sad to relate, this 

 beautiful trout stream has been badly polluted in 

 parts by sewage ; yet to look at, in its upper and 

 middle lengths, the Chess seems the finest of 

 waters. 



The Misbourne runs through a small valley with 

 somewhat wooded low hills on either side, and it 

 extends from Great Missenden to Denham on the 



G 



