FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 



Deal Pier, which lives on its reputation, has not, perhaps, been so good 

 of late years as it was formerly, and Dover has fallen still farther from 

 grace, thanks to the " improvements " in the harbour in course of com- 

 pletion. The railway pier at Folkestone, however, is nowadays one of 

 the best on that part of the coast. As for the sport from the beach at Dunge 

 Ness, the latest reports are distinctly discouraging. 



(ii) THE SOUTH COAST. Taken as a whole, from Dunge Ness to the 

 Land's End, this south coast of England, though it has not the big game of 

 Florida, California, or British East Africa (I allude to the sea fish of 

 Mombasa, not the lions of Tsavo), offers some of the best all-round sea 

 fishing in the world. True, there have of late years been more anglers, 

 and consequently fewer fish, while such fish as are left, and particularly 

 the big veterans, have learnt caution, and are harder to catch than their 

 grandfathers and grandmothers were twenty years ago. There are 

 sometimes mullet in the inner basin at Ramsgate as cunning as carp in 

 a pond; and it may safely, and without fear of contradiction, be said 

 that the mullet at Weymouth, the bass at Teignmouth, and even the 

 pollack in the open sea off Mevagissey are either fewer or more wary 

 (or both) than I knew them twenty years or less ago. To deny, 

 as some folk do, that the great increase in the numbers of amateur 

 fishermen has had no part in this change is to throw logic to the winds. 

 The south coast differs, from the angler's standpoint, in many respects 

 from the east. The inshore water is, on the average, deeper and clearer, 

 and shingle beaches are commoner, at any rate east of the Solent, than 

 those of sand. Calm seas are also less frequent, because the prevailing 

 south-west wind blows over the water and not, as on the east coast, 

 over the land. 



DUNGE NESS TO THE SOLENT. A hundred years ago, the coast of 

 Sussex and Hampshire must have been wonderful fishing ground, but 

 sport has inevitably deteriorated since the coming of the railroad, since, 

 in addition to the 350,000 people permanently resident in the half-dozen 

 great watering places, every summer brings many thousands of visitors 

 with the result that, at any rate during two months of the year, every 

 pier is crowded with rods. Sussex, with its shingle beaches, strong tides, 

 and patches of rock uncovered at low water, offers fair bass fishing from 

 the piers, with bream, and (at night) large conger on the outer grounds, 

 a few pollack near the Hampshire border, grey mullet at two spots, and 

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