SMALLER LAKES 127 



respectively may be seen at the Pheasant Inn (Peel 

 Wyke) on the shores of the lake. 



In the Keswick Museum there is the preserved 

 head of a pike with the following inscription : 

 "Caught in Bassenthwaite, by trolling, July I2th, 

 1 86 1, weight 34 Ibs." 



The methods of pike-fishing are trolling with the 

 spoon or phantom ; or by setting trimmers, live 

 perch being used for bait. At one time pike fishing 

 was much commoner on Bassenthwaite that it is 

 to-day. There were more boats on the lake, and 

 rules were laid down as to methods, so many 

 trimmers, for instance, being allowed per boat. 

 Pike and perch fishing commences on June 16. 



There are eel-coops on the Derwent (the effluent), 

 and eels descending from the lake have been caught 

 up to 6 Ibs. in weight. 



Bassenthwaite is one of the few lakes in which 

 the vendace is found. It is, however, rarely taken, 

 and even then at long intervals. 



Char have been introduced, but the experiment 

 has not succeeded. 



If Bassenthwaitecannotbe strongly recommended 

 to the angler, the naturalist will find a good deal to 

 interest him. Cormorants (" scarf " and " scart " the 

 country people call them) fish the lake the year 

 through; the kingfisher is a resident; and herons 

 are always to be seen, sentinel-like, on its shores. 

 This year there are two broods of otters near the 

 effluent. In Wythop Woods there is a heronry, 

 consisting of sixty nests, one of the largest in the 

 district. 



Lord Leconfield is owner and lord of the manor 

 of Bassenthwaite, and occasionally exercises his 

 right of fishery in the lake. Sir Henry Vane leases 



