SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



lot at right angles across the stream of the pool 

 and permits the combination to grovel across 

 the bed of the river, the water being so thick 

 the while that the fish cannot discern the 

 engine in time to shift away from its path. 

 This class of angler like the sewerage of 

 Carlisle can be easily dispensed with. 



I have been told by old men who have 

 passed their days upon Eden's banks that some 

 forty to fifty years ago the river was more an 

 autumn than a spring one as regards salmon- 

 fishing, but it is difficult to reconcile these 

 statements with the evidence given by an old 

 man in a recent lawsuit concerning fishery 

 rights on the river, and as the incident was 

 not without humour it is worth relating. 



The old man of about eighty years was 

 summoned to give evidence, and on account 

 of his extreme age and deafness was invited to 

 afford testimony from the well of the court. 

 In the course of examination he stated that 

 he and his mate, in the olden times, while 

 netting a pool of the Eden, captured ninety- 

 nine salmon in one night's fishing. The 

 catch was certainly a very large one and the 

 number of fish seemed somewhat peculiar. 

 In cross-examination by eminent counsel, 

 questions were put to the witness, in the usual 

 professional tone, which seemed to imply that 

 his memory was possibly defective. Failing 

 to catch counsel's words the old man raised 

 both hands to his ears, and the question 

 gained emphasis by repetition. Without a 

 moment's hesitation the old fellow replied 

 more or less in these words : ' A remeember 

 eet weel me an' Jim had been feeshin' a' 

 neet, an' Jim says to me, " We've gotten 

 ninety-nine feesh, an' we maun hae aneether 

 to mak' eet a 'underd," an' we wrought on 

 for foor moortal 'oors, but we could naV 

 It was a distinct score for the veteran, who 

 was then permitted to retire. 



It is difficult to imagine that these could all 

 have been fresh-run fish, and the probable 

 explanation is that in those days they were 

 not so particular about kelts. 



The Cumberland rivers, including the best 

 of them, the Eden, will not yield a big bag of 

 salmon under existing conditions ; indeed five 

 or six fish is the most I have known taken by 

 a rod in one day, and this has happened only 

 under peculiarly favourable conditions of water 

 and weather. 



I killed five fish one day with the fly but 

 they only averaged 1 1 lb., which is very low 

 for the river, as I should put the average 

 weight of the fish falling to the rod in 

 February, March and April at about 1 7 lb. to 

 i81b., and in the autumn some 2 lb. to 4 lb. 

 higher. 



I do not claim to possess records of fish 

 taken throughout the length of the Eden, but 

 at about the above spring average I have known 

 four fish killed by a rod in a day upon a few 

 occasions, many times have I known of three 

 fish in a day, but probably most anglers fishing 

 in this river would be contented with the 

 average of one fish a day ; indeed the probability 

 is that in a month's fishing, upon sufficient 

 water to occupy the day, fifteen fish would be 

 a fair bag, and twenty a very good one. 



A few years since, upon 8 November, I 

 killed a cock fish of 38 lb., and soon after lost 

 another of about the same size when close to 

 the bank, and then landed a spring fish of 17 

 lb., which shows how early upon occasions 

 will the spring fish ascend the river, and this 

 was not a solitary instance. 



The largest fish I have known killed on the 

 Eden was a cock fish of 56^ lb. in the back- 

 end with an artificial minnow just above 

 Warwick Bridge, and he was a very fine fish 

 in fair condition. 



The scenery around a watershed, the 

 growth of timber, shrubs and wild flowers 

 upon the banks, together with the resident 

 and migratory bird-life, add so much to the 

 enjoyment of angling, that without these 

 adjuncts the sport is bereft of a considerable 

 amount of its charm. No complaint how- 

 ever can be made of the Cumberland rivers 

 and lakes in these respects, for their scenery is 

 delightful, as it tells the tale of the seasons by 

 its foliage and feathered inhabitants. 



The angling is also interesting in itself, for 

 the bluff sandstone crags and wooded banks 

 call for all methods of casting, and the sunken 

 rocks which line many a pool demand expert 

 handling of the fish when hooked. 



The weather is often uncommonly wild 

 and rough for the first four months of the year 

 in Cumberland, and frost, cold winds, snow 

 and sleet are pretty certain to take their turns 

 until May arrives ; indeed many a time has 

 my line been frozen in the rings of the rod as 

 the ' helm-wind ' swept down from the fells. 



The opening day of the season is of peculiar 

 interest to the salmon-fisher, for he puts up his 

 rod with the knowledge that, whether the fish 

 have been lying in the pools for a day or a 

 month, they at all events have not seen a fly 

 or bait since they left the sea. 



The rod seems a trifle heavy, those sub- 

 merged rocks to be covered in the cast appear 

 somewhat distant, the fly does not shoot forth 

 and drop upon the ripple with quite its usual 

 easy grace, and as he wades with the rushing 

 stream around his waist, the angler's eyes are 

 rather dazed by the light and the movement of 

 the water, while the awkward wading places 



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