240 ENGLISH LAKE DISTRICT FISHERIES 



as possible, and two-year-olds are sold out of a river, the 

 screens of which pass the whole river. The fish are kept 

 under natural circumstances, and when turned out are ready 

 to fight their own battle. 



I am certain that if the stocking of the Lake District is 

 carried out in a practical manner there will be a good return 

 for the investment ; and it would be of the greatest advantage 

 not only to sportsmen, but to every hotel-keeper and resident 

 in the neighbourhood. 



Now, I consider that these lakes, which are public fishing, 

 should be stocked by the public ; but the public are not 

 likely to stock lakes unless they are taught that it is to their 

 interest to do so. 



The lake or mere that is selected for the suggested ex- 

 periment should either be private fishing, and the person 

 who owns it should be willing to co-operate in this scheme ; 

 or those who stock it should have the exclusive right of 

 fishing, i.e., of taking fish in the spawning season for purposes 

 of spawning, or by letting fishing tickets at any price they 

 choose to name. 



To give you an idea of the cost of stocking a virgin 

 piece of water that has not any fish in it, I take for example 

 a lake of about 20 acres in extent that I have just completed. 

 It is 20 feet in its deepest part, planted and arranged specially 

 for fish, and fed by a small mountain stream. This place has 

 been stocked at a cost of about ;i8o. 



We turned in about 10,000 selected yearlings, and after 

 leaving them three months so that they would become used 

 to the place, and by knowing their way about be able to 

 escape their natural enemies we then introduced 2,000 

 selected two-year-olds. This we consider an average 

 stocking, as there were no fish in it, and the water is so 

 full of food it could have grown twice that number for the 

 first three years. The fish put in were common Brown-trout 

 and Rainbows in equal numbers. As these fish spawn at 

 different seasons, they do not breed with one another, and 

 practically give sport all the year round. 



If one could find a small mere or lake from 40 to 50 

 acres, it would be sufficiently large for the experiment. The 

 restocking alone could not be done under ^200, and added 

 to this there would be the cost of a watcher or keeper all 

 the year round. 



