. RIVERS OF THE DISTRICT 33 



salmon are taken, but, owing to the hard netting 

 at the estuary, fewer than formerly. 



There are several eel-coops on the Crake, which, 

 owing to the great quantity of eels in Coniston, 

 are fairly productive. The heaviest takes are on 

 stormy nights during the autumn months, when 

 the fish are making their migration to the sea. 

 The elvers may be observed returning up the 

 river in early summer. 



A curious fact is that sea-trout are often found 

 in the eel-coops comparatively early in the season, 

 proving that they do not always remain in the 

 river they first enter, but make a rapid descent to 

 the sea. 



Of late years the fishing in the Crake has been 

 deteriorated somewhat by the construction of a 

 roadway across the Leven estuary by the Furness 

 Railway Company. Not only does this impede 

 the passage of salmon, but it allows the congre- 

 gated fish to be scooped out of the pools whole- 

 sale at a low state of the tide, or when the river 

 is low. Netting, however, has now been stopped, 

 and sea-trout are ascending in greater numbers. 



THE DUDDON 



It must be confessed that the reputation of the 

 Ducldon has been gained more from the beauty of 

 the valley down which it flows, and its association 

 with Wordsworth's splendid series of sonnets, than 

 for the fish it contains or the angling it affords. 

 Theoretically, no doubt, the Duddon is a good 

 salmon river in its lower reaches, and an admirable 

 trout stream in its upper reaches. A practical 

 acquaintance with the river, however, shows that 



P 



