242 ELEMENTS OF ANGLING. 



enclosure of a stamped envelope for the reply is a 

 piece of courtesy not wasted when one is making 

 inquiries. 



All this, however, relates more to the angler who 

 is seeking fishing for his holidays. I now come to 

 the case of him who wants to find something more 

 permanent, some water to which he may repair on 

 a Saturday or for a week-end, as the modern phrase 

 is. The solution of this problem lies, to put it 

 briefly, in the angling society. Nearly all our great 

 cities possess many angling clubs or societies ; 

 most of the smaller towns which lie anywhere near 

 fishing have at least one. Their importance as a 

 factor in angling economics cannot possibly be 

 over-estimated ; indeed, I think the future of angling, 

 so far as the vast majority of its votaries is con- 

 cerned, lies with them and them alone. 



Their scope varies, some few being purely social 

 organisations, others apparently existing for the 

 purpose of holding competitions at which prizes are 

 fished for, others again renting waters for the use 

 of their members, and yet others, such as the 

 Thames Angling Preservation Society, performing 

 the altruistic function of protecting and improving 

 free waters for the benefit of anyone who likes to 

 fish them. Lastly, most of the clubs in any large 

 centre, such as London, Birmingham or Sheffield, 



