472 NOTES ON FISHING WATERS. 



angler wades in the shallo\vs, and, stirring up the gravel with his feet, 

 draws the fish to his bait, thus effecting the purposes of the rake xised 

 in the Thames. 



THE DOVE. This classic trout and grayling-stream, rendered ini- 

 mdrtal by Walton and Cotton, rises near the Three-shire Stones, at the 

 Peak of Derbyshire, and divides that county from Staffordshire ; after 

 passing the wild moors and mountains of the high peak, it reaches 

 DOVEDALE, one of the most sequestered and beautiful of the rocky dells 

 of England. It is five miles from the town of ASHBOURNE. There is a 

 good inn at the entrance of the dale ; but the water is now strictly pre- 

 served by Jesse Watts Russell, Esq., of Ham Hall, a splendid mansion, 

 situated in a beautifully wooded valley, through which the MANIFOLD 

 winds its clear stream into the Dove. Near ILAM is an excellent inn, 

 the Walton's Head, where the living is very moderate, and the landlord 

 can give orders for fishing in the Dove. He is Mr. Watts Russell's 

 tenant. But the fishing is not so good as it used to be, owing to 

 poachers ; and the fish now run small. 



" Those who are strangers to this sport (grayling fishing), and indeed 

 many who have fished for grayling all their lives, when the water is very 

 low and clear, immediately betake themselves to the sti-eams and curls, 

 from the idea that the fish will see your line in the dead water. By so 

 doing, they will, perhaps, catch a few trout, and some skelt gi-ayling. But 

 go yourself to a deep, dead part of the river ; never mind if there is no 

 wind, or if the sun is hot. Use the finest gut you can procure, and 

 two flies, and when you have thrown your line as light as gossamer, let 

 it sink for eight or ten inches. You will not see a rise, but a slight 

 curl on the water, which, by a little practice, you will understand quite 

 as well ; and when you strike you will have the pleasure of finding, 

 most probably, a good fish tugging away at the end of your line. 



" This is the real secret of grayling-fishing, and you may often fill 

 your basket while other fishermen on the water, using the very same 

 flies, will not have managed to kill a decent dish amongst them." 



For trout the best fishing in this river is AT NIGHT, in bright wea- 

 ther, when a good dish may be caught. 



THE TAME rises in the hundred of Sirdan, in the county of Stafford; 

 where, being joined by Walsal-water, after passing DRAYTON-BASSET 

 and Tamworth, and becoming enlarged by Blackbrook and other 

 streams, it fulls into the Trent, just beyond Burton-on-Trent, Stafford- 

 shire ; it has also many meres, pools, and lakes, which abound with 

 large pike and pearch ; indeed there are few better rivers for trolling. 

 A trout weighing twenty -two pounds and a half was caught in Drayton 

 park, and sent by the late Sir Robert Peel to Professor Owen. 



THE BLTTHE falls into the Trent at KING'S BHOMLEY, after receiving 

 the SOAR from Eccleshall, and the PEAK from Penkridge. It abounds 

 with trout, which bite freely at a worm, especially after a fresh caused 

 by rain. 



THE DERWENT rises in the woodlands of Derbyshire, and flowing 

 past Derwent Hall, through Ashopton to Baslow, enters the park, and 

 passes close to CHATSWORTH, the splendid mansion of the Duke of 

 Devonshire. 



