FISHES 



these fish as there used to be. It appears that 

 the steam traffic, which causes a wave as the 

 vessels pass along, disturbs the eggs or these 

 fish and in this way injures the fishery. 



8. Roach. Leuciscus ruti/us, Linn. 



Are a very common fish in the Thames, 

 though they do not grow to so great an aver- 

 age weight as in the Kennet. The roach is, 

 as a matter of fact, the piece de resistance of the 

 London mechanic angler who spends his holi- 

 days on the banks of the river. The fish are 

 also found in most of the ponds and private 

 lakes scattered throughout the county. The 

 capture of a roach of over 2 Ib. in the Thames 

 is of rare occurrence. 



9. Rudd. Leuciscus erythrophthalmus, Linn. 

 Is by no means a common fish in the 



county. It used to be fairly plentiful in the 

 Thames, but being easily caught has become 

 almost if not quite exterminated. A case of 

 these fish which were caught in the river 

 may be seen at the George and Dragon at 

 Wargrave. 



10. Dace. Leuciscus dobula, Linn. (L. vul- 



garis t Day). 



Is a somewhat scarce fish in the portion of 

 the Thames bordering this county, but it is 

 plentiful in the Kennet, where it grows to a 

 remarkable size. Now however that the 

 sewage of Newbury and other towns is 

 diverted from the river, it is doubtful whether 

 the coarse fish of the Kennet will maintain 

 their fine proportions. 



11. Chub. Leuciscus cepka/us, Linn. 



Are found only in rivers and are fairly 

 common in the Thames, Kennet and Loddon, 

 but not in the upper reaches of the two 

 tributaries. In the Thames these fish have 

 largely decreased of late years. There is pro- 

 bably not one now where twenty years ago 

 were five or six. They rarely attain a weight 

 exceeding 5 Ib. 



12. Minnow. Leuciscus phoxinus, Linn. 



This fish is exceedingly plentiful in nearly 

 all the running waters of the county, but its 

 extraordinary decrease in the Thames of late 

 years is one of the mysteries of fishery pre- 

 servation. Immense shoals used to cover the 

 shallows below the weir pools. For instance, 

 at Pangbourne it was possible to take with a 

 little hand net a pint of these fish at a time 

 and use them as white bait ; now they are 

 literally decimated, and the only possible ex- 

 planation seems to be the injury done to their 

 eggs by the wash of the steam traffic. The 



minnows of the Kennet are much finer than 

 those of the Thames. 



13- Tench. Tinea vulgaris, Cuv. 



Berkshire produces in the Thames, Kennet 

 and Loddon some of the finest tench, both for 

 size and excellence for table purposes. The 

 fish are also present in many of the ponds in 

 the county, but these are not so good for the 

 table. It is a common thing for the angler 

 to catch them weighing from 2 to 3-^ Ib., and 

 some extraordinary takes have been made in 

 the Loddon from time to time. The tench 

 however is not easily captured, and it is only 

 those who understand tench fishing thoroughly 

 who as a rule succeed. The result is that 

 few are captured from the rivers mentioned, 

 though we believe they should be regarded as 

 fairly common fish. 



14. Bream. Abramis brama. Linn. 



Bream are occasionally taken in the upper 

 Thames, where they have been introduced 

 from Norfolk by various fishery associations, 

 but their numbers are hardly sufficient to 

 enable them to hold their own and stock the 

 river to an appreciable extent. They are 

 quite as rare in the Berkshire portions of the 

 river as are carp. 



15. Bleak. Alburnus /ucidus, Heck, and 



Kner. 



Are extremely common in the Thames 

 and the lower portions of its tributaries. 

 Immense quantities of these fish used to be 

 captured for the sake of utilizing the silvery 

 matter in their scales for making artificial 

 pearls. Other and cheaper methods have 

 been discovered, and the practice is now dis- 

 continued. The bleak is chiefly used as a 

 bait for other fish. 



1 6. Loach. Nemachilus barbatulus y Linn. 

 These fish are somewhat widely distributed 



over the county in the running waters, but 

 they can hardly be called common. Owing 

 to their habit of feeding at night and hiding 

 under stones in the daytime they are not often 

 seen. 



MALACOPTERYGII 



17. Trout (Brown Trout). Salmo fario, 



Linn. 



Berkshire is noted for its trout, for while it 

 is not visited by the silvery Salmo trutta it 

 grows in its fresh waters salmonoids of re- 

 markable dimensions. Probably the finest 

 recorded specimen is one which was caught 

 at the mouth of the Kennet almost in the 

 town of Reading. It weighed 17 Ib. and 



135 



