218 SALMON FISHING 



during the last decade. The reason, Captain 

 Radclyffe tells me, is not obvious. On the contrary, 

 there should, it would seem, have been an increase^ 

 of sport. Until about fifteen years ago a good many 

 fish were every year taken in nets at the river mouth ; 

 but of late years the netting has been almost totally 

 abandoned. Moreover, there have been no recent 

 erections of mills, dams, or weirs, which might have 

 affected the ascent of fish. " Nor is there any 

 apparent cause of increased pollution. The old- 

 fashioned towns of quaint and sleepy Dorsetshire 

 which line its banks are not remarkable for growth 

 of population. The factories remain almost as they 

 were a hundred years ago. Fish in great numbers 

 still run up in autumn, and spawn during winter. 

 What is the ultimate fate of the ova, or fry, has long 

 been a mystery. The capture of a grilse is an un- 

 heard-of event. The average weight of fish killed in 

 the Frome has always been remarkably good. The 

 five fish caught by myself during 1905 were no excep- 

 tion to the rule. The average was just under 30 Ibs. 

 The largest, a fine salmon, weighed 41 Ibs. ; the 

 smallest, 22 Ibs. All were taken with fly. A few 

 years ago two or three good rods could have as many 

 as forty or fifty clean fish in the first three months 

 of the season. Now the same rods would consider 

 themselves lucky to have ten or twelve. The Board 

 of Conservators are at a loss to explain why, whilst 

 many fish ascend the river in autumn, only a few 

 now run during spring and summer; nor can they 

 account for the absence of grilse. I myself have 



