SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



on I April and ends on 4 September. Most of 

 the largest fish are caught by spinning, with live 

 bait, or by barbel fishers who have baited a weir- 

 pool with worms. Many a trout, well con- 

 ditioned if small, has been caught with a salmon 

 fly in the weir-pools, while on the shallows 

 below them smaller flies of the standard pattern, 

 alders, red palmers, and so forth, are occasionally 

 used. It cannot be said, however, that the fly 

 fishing for Thames trout is good or even fair ; 

 indeed little can be done with the fly rod except 

 on such shallows as remain undisturbed by the 

 summer traffic. Near Magna Charta island are 

 some noted barbel swims. The weirs and their 

 streams in the neighbourhood of Windsor hold a 

 good many fine trout which were turned in by 

 the Windsor Angling Association. Fishing in 

 the neighbourhood of Windsor Park belongs to 

 the crown estates, and the right of fishing is 

 retained, at any rate so far as the towpath is 

 concerned. Boveney has long been a noted 

 place for trout. At Maidenhead the angling 

 rights over much of the river are in private 

 hands, a private right of fishing in the main 

 stream below Maidenhead Bridge having been 

 established by Mrs. Annie Smith in an action 

 brought against James Andrews, a professional 

 fisherman. 1 



At Maidenhead the fisheries are under the 

 care of the Maidenhead, Cookham and Bray 

 Thames Angling Association, which has placed 

 large quantities of trout and other fish in the 

 river. At Cookham the angling, judged from a 

 Thames standpoint, begins to be first-rate. It 



' It is a well-established principle of law that 

 fisheries in a non-tidal though navigable river do not 

 become the property of the public however long the 

 public may have fished without let or hindrance ; 

 but such free fishing carried on for many years can be 

 put forward as evidence to show that the person 

 claiming the fishery is not in possession of it, the law 

 assuming that someone else is the owner. In the 

 Maidenhead case Sir Ford North, the presiding judge, 

 made the following statement on the subject : 

 ' There are very large portions of the river in which 

 the public are at liberty to fish, without fear of inter- 

 ference ; not from any right of their own, but 

 because the real proprietors of the soil and fishery 

 cannot trace and establish their title.' Of course the 

 owner of the bed or banks of the river is not 

 necessarily the owner of the fishery which may have 

 been granted in years gone by to anyone and is often 

 owned by the lord of the manor. Many owners of 

 fisheries to whose title there can be no question, act 

 very liberally towards the public, placing no obstacle 

 in the way of anglers. In other cases, however, 

 claims are made to Thames fisheries which it is 

 commonly believed will not bear investigation. The 

 Thames Preservation League, a branch of the Com- 

 mons Preservation Society, has for some time been 

 endeavouring to come to an amicable arrangement with 

 the owners of Thames fisheries with the object of once 

 and for all settling the question and removing the cause 

 of many disputes, and, occasionally, costly lawsuits. 



is between this place and Bourne End that the 

 Wye or Wick above-mentioned flows into the 

 Thames, and formerly aided in keeping the river 

 stocked with trout. A little higher we come to 

 Great Marlow which has long been noted for 

 Thames trout, owing to the great number of 

 large fish which have been turned in by the 

 Marlow Angling Association. It was long the 

 policy of this association to turn in far larger fish 

 than those purchased by similar organizations, 

 and the results obtained have certainly justified 

 that course. It has been found that even two- 

 year-old trout from the fish culturists' ponds 

 when turned into the Thames do not always 

 survive : reared in artificial security they appear 

 unable to recognise their most dangerous natural 

 foes. Fish of from one-and-a-half to three 

 pounds, however and some of this size have 

 been turned in enjoy greater safety. From 

 Marlow up to Medmenham Abbey is one of the 

 choicest pieces of Thames fishing. The Hurley 

 pools contain all kinds of fish and produce some 

 magnificent trout and very fair bags of barbel. 

 Perch are numerous, as are chub and roach. 

 Hurley is within the district of the Henley-on- 

 Thames and District Preservation Society which 

 has introduced, among other fish, bream and 

 Loch Leven trout into this portion of the 

 Thames. Bream are occasionally caught, but 

 these fish do not appear to have bred in any 

 number. Just below Medmenham Abbey the 

 fishing is extremely good ; above the abbey by 

 Magpie Island there are swims which offer 

 opportunities to the chub fisher ; while in the 

 sharp running water below Hambleden lock we 

 again reach favourite haunts of trout. At the 

 mill-tail at this point is the mouth of a little 

 intermittent burn which has the reputation of 

 running for three years and then remaining dry 

 for a like period. In the eighties, however, it 

 flowed for nine successive years, with the result 

 that Thames trout ran up it and bred so freely 

 that the stream became a most valuable feeder for 

 the main river and was used for piscicultural 

 operations by the Henley Fishery Association. 

 A large number of Loch Leven trout were bred 

 from eggs presented by the late Sir James 

 Maitland, Bart., of Howictoun. In time the 

 stream again dried up and the decrease in the 

 quantity of trout was soon noticeable. A little 

 above Hambleden, by Greenlands so long the 

 residence of the late Mr. W. H. Smith, M.P., 

 there is good pike fishing in winter, and the 

 Regatta Reach which commences near the 

 island of that name contains a considerable 

 number of large chub and a fair number of other 

 fish, including some very large trout. Near 

 Fawley Court, and about opposite Remenham 

 Farm, a short distance up the Regatta Reach, 

 the boundary of the county is reached. 



A notable feature of Thames angling is the 

 gudgeon fishing. Many anglers in summer 



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