CONISTON LAKE 97 



conditions and the vegetation providing food, they 

 are almost invariably good trout ground. The 

 stranger angler on Windermere, for instance, could 

 never be far wrong if he devoted himself exclu- 

 sively to the rocky ledges of the islands, and here 

 the writer has taken the largest and best fish he 

 has ever caught in the district. 



Coniston Water ought to be (and might be) an 

 angler's paradise. Its greatest enthusiast, however, 

 could hardly describe it as such. In the whole of 

 the district there is no single lake which is more 

 peculiarly adapted to yield such a number of game 

 fish, and sport, as Coniston. It is surrounded by 

 food-abounding shores (an important considera- 

 tion) and it swarms with fish. For the most part, 

 however, these are small in size. 



The species it contains are trout, char, pike, 

 perch, eels and minnows. Salmon run through the 

 lake to the streams above. 



There were at one time extensive pollutions 

 from the copper mines, but these have not now 

 been working for some time. The lake, too, is 

 legitimately fished, and it is therefore difficult to 

 account for the comparative poorness of the 

 results. 



That the configuration of Coniston is favourable 

 to all the forms of fish life found in it there can be 

 no question. It has extensive areas of shallow, 

 pebbly shores, suitable for trout ; deep water 

 conditions essential to char ; and the pike and 

 perch are equally well provided with food and 

 suitable surroundings. I have closely examined 

 and fished Coniston in varying conditions, and 

 have come to the conclusion that what the lake 

 lacks is (for a time at least) systematic netting 



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