FISHES OF THE DISTRICT 169 



head waters of the Kent also would afford valuable 

 spawning ground, but this is lost owing to the 

 weir of the Staveley Old Mill being inaccessible 

 to salmon. 



Salmon and sea-trout run up the Bela at the 

 same time as in the Kent, and if the river were 

 more accessible to the Salmonida a con- 



The Bela 



siderable extent of valuable spawning 

 ground would be opened out. There exists, how- 

 ever, an old weir in connection with the paper-mill 

 which is impassable, and so this breeding ground 

 is lost. 



The Eden is an exceedingly early river, and 

 there are three distinct migrations of salmon the" 

 first in early spring, the second in summer, 



The Eden 



and a third in the autumn. Unless 

 stopped by ice the first run begins in December, 

 and has even been known as early as November. 

 The second takes place in June or July ; and the 

 last, which consists of the real spawning fish, in 

 October. The earliest or spring fish are those 

 that provide the best sport for the angler. 



The largest salmon taken with rod-and-line in 

 the Eden was one of 55 J Ibs. It was a male fish of 

 the following dimensions length 51 inches, girth 

 29 inches, breadth of tail pinches. It was hooked 

 in Cat Clint and killed in Colley's Nab (the Corby 

 Castle Water). The captor was a Mr. Frances, of 

 Liverpool. 



To show to what an extent salmon poaching 

 was at one time practised in the Eden, it may be 

 stated that in 1827 no less than 20 shackle and 

 other illegal nets were publicly burned in the 

 Appleby market place. These were the property 

 of a gang of poachers, and, as the nets were new 



