A HISTORY OF DERBYSHIRE 



1 6. Chub. Leuciscus cephalus, Linn. 

 Commonly found in the Trent, also in the 



Dove below Rocester and in the Derwent as 

 high as the Chatsworth water. Formerly 

 plentiful in the Rother, where a few still 

 survive. Glover gives the maximum weight 

 of chub from the Trent and Derwent as 

 6 lb., length 14 to 16 inches; and Garner 

 says that in the Trent they reach 5 lb. 



17. Minnow. Leuciscus phoxinus, Linn. 

 Generally distributed. 



1 8. Tench. Tinea vu/garis, Cuv. 

 Thrives best in ponds, canals and sluggish 



streams. It is found in the Trent and the 

 lower reaches of the Dove and Derwent, but 

 rarely exceeds 2^ lb. Mr. Storer informs 

 me that they have been taken up to 3 lb. 

 near Burton. 



19. Bream. Abramh brama. Linn. 



Very common in the Trent below Twy- 

 ford, but less so near Burton. It appears to 

 be absent from the Dove, except near its 

 junction with the Trent, but is found in the 

 Derwent up to Cromford, and in canals 

 communicating with the Trent. Six and a 

 half stones of this fish were taken by three 

 anglers at Barton in one day. 



Glover and Garner mention fish of 7 lb. 

 weight from the Trent, and one of 6 lb. was 

 taken at Shardlow in 1901. 



20. White Bream,' Breamflat. Abramh blicca, 



Bloch. 



This fish, which was first described from 

 the Trent near Newark (Trans. Linn. Soc. 

 xiv. p. 587), is not uncommon in the lower 

 part of the Trent, and a few are to be found 

 within our limits, but it is comparatively 

 scarce above the junction with the Soar, and 

 is absent from our other rivers. It has how- 

 ever been recorded from the Trent at Hixon 

 in Staffordshire, and has probably been over- 

 looked in other parts of the river. 



21. Bleak. Alburnus tucidus, Heck, and Kner. 

 Mr. E. Brown (Fauna of Burton) de- 

 scribes this fish as ' very abundant in running 

 streams, especially in the Trent ' ; and Mr. C. 

 Hanson has recorded it from the lower Dove. 



22. Loach. Nemachilus barbatulus. Linn. 

 Locally, Stone Loach, Tommy Loach. 



Common in nearly all our brooks and 

 rivers. 



23. Spinous Loach. Cobitis teenia, Linn. 

 Recorded by almost all writers on the fish 



of this district from the Trent. It is still 



not uncommon near Burton, where it con- 

 ceals itself among the weeds or under stones 

 (G. H. Storer). 



MALACOPTERYGII 



24. Salmon. Salmo salar. Linn. 



In former times large numbers of salmon 

 ascended the Trent, Dove and Derwent for 

 spawning purposes ; but owing to the numer- 

 ous obstacles in the two latter rivers, and the 

 reckless way in which the fish have been 

 killed, their numbers have decreased year by 

 year, and their range has been restricted. 



In Glover's time (1829) salmon still as- 

 cended the Dove, Wye, Lathkill and Der- 

 went. For many years their progress has 

 been effectually stopped up the Derwent by 

 Darley weir ; but Mr. O. B. Murphy in- 

 forms me that about 1880 he saw salmon 

 jumping up the Long Bridge weir in the 

 middle of Derby, but they failed to pass 

 Darley weir, and, as the water ran low, were 

 killed by the polluted water from the mills, 

 etc. Since then salmon have not faced the 

 Derwent on account of the state of the river 

 below Derby. They still continue to ascend 

 the Trent in reduced numbers, and of late 

 there has been some slight increase in their 

 ranks. Strangely enough these fish refuse the 

 fly, and can only be taken by spinning or 

 ground fishing. 



On arriving at the junction of the Trent 

 and Dove most of the fish make their way 

 up the latter stream. At Dove Cliff a salmon 

 ladder exists, and as many as twenty salmon 

 are said to have passed up it in an hour 

 in a good season (G. H. Storer). Sir O. 

 Mosley (Nat. Hist, of Tutbury, p. 64) informs 

 us on the authority of Mr. Thornewill that 

 in one year no fewer than forty-two were 

 taken at this spot, but that in the eight years 

 prior to 1863 not more than twelve or four- 

 teen were taken. This diminution he ascribes 

 partly to a succession of dry seasons, and 

 partly to the indiscriminate slaughter of spent 

 fish. 



At the present time few salmon ascend 

 higher than Tutbury, but formerly they were 

 known to ascend as high as Dovedale. The 

 late David Foster of Ashbourne remembered 

 seeing them there when a young man (prob- 

 ably about 1830). Twenty years later an 

 occasional fish was seen as high as Mayfield 

 weir, and a small grilse was hooked below 

 the weir about 1886, but escaped. Below 

 Rocester Mr. O. B. Murphy took three fish 

 weighing 9^ lb., II lb. and 13^ lb., and lost 

 a fourth, about 1 88 1 ; and Mr. Bass captured 

 one of 22^ lb. near Doveridge a few years 



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