A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



poaching in these waters could be put down. 

 Lord Ashcombe, then Mr. George Cubitt, was 

 the moving spirit, and his endeavours resulted 

 in the formation of the Rother Fishery Associa- 

 tion, acting under the Board of Conservancy of 

 the Rother fishery district. The association has 

 done excellent work ; the Rother, Tillingham, 

 and Brede are now well watched and protected, 

 and anglers obtain fair sport. 



A small stream, the Asten (or Arton) which 

 rises near Battle, holds a few trout and coarse 

 fish and once formed the port of Hastings. The 

 Ashburn (or Ashbourne), rising at Ashburnham, 

 contains trout and coarse fish, including a few 

 pike. The Ashburn enters the sea without 

 visible outlet near Pevensey. Travelling west- 

 ward we come to the Cuckmere, rising near 

 Heathfield. Several miles of fishing are available 

 with the exception of portions reserved by the 

 landowners, who as a rule grant permission when 

 applied for. Licences are required only for 

 trout fishing. Trout occur in the upper waters 

 but the principal fish are rudd, dace, bream, 

 roach, pike, and eels. The best angling reaches 

 are Michelham Priory, Chilver Bridge, High 

 Corner, near the railway bridge, Lock Hole and 

 Road Hole. Heavy bream are occasionally taken, 

 but sport has fallen off considerably of late years. 

 The water is tidal to Alfriston. 



The Ouse is a more important river, and by 

 reason of its proximity to Brighton is much 

 fished. It rises at Ardingly and is fed by several 

 small streams. Between Lindfield and Fletching 

 Mill some good trout are caught ; trout up to 

 3 Ib. have been taken from the Black Brook 

 stream ; the Black Brook has a number of good 

 pools, but is thickly wooded on both banks. 

 The angler must use a short stiff rod, running 

 tackle and strong gut, the line wound up to the 

 rod point, pushed through a gap and paid out 

 with fly, worm or minnow. When a good fish 

 is hooked it must be lifted bodily through the 

 gap ; thus many heavy fish are lost. The river, 

 which is somewhat narrow in this reach, holds 

 some good chub, dace, roach, trout, and pike. It 

 receives the stream from the lakes at Sheffield 

 Park. The lowest lake was formerly noted for 

 the size of its pike ; some years since the writer 

 in an hour and a-half spinning from the iron 

 bridge with small trout, landed three, weighing 

 respectively i8, 17^, and i6 Ib. One fish 

 when hooked took the line round a sunken pile 

 and broke away, to be captured an hour later 

 with the tackle in its mouth. The streams lead- 

 ing to the lakes hold some good trout. One of 

 the best waters for big river trout is Ruston 

 Brook, a stream running from Mr. Wilson's 

 water at Searles and joining the river just above 

 Gold Bridge, Newick. It is a succession of pools 

 and shallows. Trout up to i Ib. and river 

 trout of 9 Ib. have been killed in this water. A 

 good plan adopted when the mill at Searles was 



464 



not running was to get a small boy with a pole 

 to stir the top pool, when the gentle stream soon 

 clouded the water downwards. Fishing with 

 well scoured brandling on Stewart tackle and the 

 boy stirring up each pool in turn, many a good 

 trout was killed. The trout are partial to this 

 stream, entering it for spawning purposes, but 

 the presence of perch considerably retards their 

 increase. Chub up to over I Ib. are taken here. 

 Hearing Fletching Mill heavy chub abound ; 

 there is also a fair quantity of good roach and 

 pike ; dace often give good sport with fly, and 

 have been taken even on bare hooks when the 

 angler was wetting a cast. The sunken timber 

 is a drawback when chub fishing, which must 

 be fine and far off; strong tackle and a short 

 shrift are necessary both with chub and pike. 

 Some heavy roach up to 2 Ib. are to be found 

 just above the mill. At Fletching Mill Pool 

 Sir Spencer Maryon Wilson a few years since 

 experimented with a small hatchery, hoping to 

 improve the breed of trout and introduce, or 

 rather re-introduce, salmon to the Ouse. There 

 is great diversity of opinion as to whether salmon 

 ever used the river for spawning purposes. Yet 

 the weirs which have been done away with for 

 many years now gave a more rapid stream, and 

 with its pools and shallows the river is materially 

 improved from an angler's point of view. The 

 salmon were hatched and turned out, but not 

 one has been seen since, and as there is no 

 evidence of their reappearance, or that they ever 

 survived the polluted water near Lewes, the 

 experiment must be considered unsuccessful. 



The pool at Fletching Mill looks a likely spot 

 for trout or pike, but there is nothing noteworthy 

 recorded from this water. From the river, in 

 its course towards Uckfield, trout up to 2 Ib. 

 have been taken, and river trout up to 9^ Ib. A 

 famous poacher of trout and chub, now dead, has 

 often boasted that with his retriever he would 

 take more of these fish in an hour than an angler 

 would catch in a day. His appliances were a 

 short blow tube and some pellets made with an 

 infusion of cocculus indicus (' indiberry,' he termed 

 it), and with his dog he would walk down stream. 

 Noting a good trout or chub he blew a few 

 pellets behind the fish, which generally devoured 

 them : then on the return journey the intoxicated 

 and floundering trout was an easy prey to the 

 retriever. Many a brace of good fish were thus 

 taken by this poacher with the blow tube or by 

 tickling. 



From Uckfield to Isfield about four miles of 

 water is rented by the Sussex Piscatorial Society. 

 Brown trout are to be found, as well as a few 

 rainbow, placed in the water by the Ouse Pre- 

 servation Society, whose head quarters are at 

 Lewes. Several roach of over 2 Ib., bream 

 weighing 4 Ib. 14^02., and carp of 8 Jib. have 

 been killed in this reach. 



Much heavier fish are to be seen, especially 



