CHAPTER X. 



WHERE TO GO FISHING. 



HAVING spoken of the how and when, next comes the 

 where; and under this head I feel bound, in the 

 interests of friends, not to describe, other than in 

 very general terms, the localities where good fishing 

 is to be had. Walton, from frequently visiting 

 Winchester, where his remains lie, and where a 

 statue of him has lately been erected by anglers, 

 (the movement for which I had the honour of start- 

 ing), was doubtless well acquainted with Hampshire 

 or, as he quaintly calls it, " Hantshire," which, he 

 says, " exceeds all England for its swift, shallow, 

 clear, pleasant brooks, and store of trouts." In his 

 will he mentions part of his books as being at 

 Droxford (about eleven miles from Winchester), 

 where it is presumed he resided occasionally. I 

 know no better trout stream than that in this 

 locality. Many a basket of goodly trout have I had 

 from it in days gone by. It was near here that I 

 caught the two large trout at one time, before 

 alluded to. 



I suppose at the present time the Avon, the Test, 

 and the Itchen are unsurpassed in the United 

 Kingdom. All the north, or what is commonly 

 called the upper, part of Hampshire, forms part of the 

 south-western edge of the basin of the Thames, and 



