ADJACENT RIVERS 43 



by nature an exceedingly good salmon and trout 

 river, being in many places for long stretches self- 

 protected from poachers by the rough and rocky 

 bottom, and yet having plenty of gravelly streams 

 for the production of flies. There is also another 

 good feature from an angler's point of view. There 

 is plenty of good taking water, that is, streams 

 or runs where a fly comes over a fish in a tempting 

 way. The Eden has another advantage. It always 

 retains a fair volume of water even in the driest 

 times, though, of course, not in the same degree as 

 it did before drainage became so general. There 

 are, however, some " flies in the ointment." The 

 river is heavily netted by the proprietors ; the whole 

 of the sewage from Carlisle, of over 40,000 inhabit- 

 ants, is emptied in its crude state into the river a 

 mile below Carlisle, thus stopping fish running ex- 

 cept in times of flood ; and there is a great obstruc- 

 tion at the Armathwaite weir, ten miles above 

 Carlisle, to the passage of salmon to the upper 

 spawning grounds. This obstruction is likely to 

 be much less in future, as the Fishery Board have 

 constructed a salmon pass at the weir, which, it is 

 believed, will enable fish to surmount it in greatly 

 increased numbers, and open out many miles of 

 good spawning ground. As to the sewage, the 

 Carlisle Corporation have at last, after a deal of 

 hammering at them by the Fishery Board, cried 

 " Peccavimus," and promise to deal with the matter 

 as soon as possible. With regard to the excessive 

 netting, it is difficult to see how this can be checked, 

 except by increased close-time, especially the 

 weekly "slap." It is now forty-two hours, and 

 should be raised to forty-eight, which is the longest 

 time allowed by the present Fishery Acts. 



