The Fishes of the Lower Wharfe Basin. wan 
neighbourhood of Woodhall Bridge, Harewood, and Thorparch 
is famous for the number of Grayling. At Tadcaster and 
beyond, where the river becomes deeper, it is not found, in 
any large quantity. 
THE PIKE or Jack is the most voracious of our fresh-water 
fishes, and will attack and devour anything from a waterhen 
or live rat to one of its own kind. It grows to a weight of 
thirty pounds, though examples of forty pounds have certainly 
been taken. Pike of eighteen and twenty-one pounds weight 
hhave been taken in the Wharfe, though this river is not par- 
ticularly famous either for the number or size therein contained. 
The Pike is rarely found above Harewood Bridge, and is met 
with more commonly at and below Thorparch and Tadcaster, 
where it is taken on the live bait or by spinning. It prefers 
the quietest portions of the river to the rougher parts, and 
during floods will often wander so that after the waters have 
subsided, small ones may be occasionally found stranded on 
the land near the riverside. 
Eets differ from other migratory fishes in that they feed 
and grow in the rivers and descend to the sea to spawn. They 
grow to a weight of about five pounds, though specimens 
from the Fen country have been taken weighing from ten 
to twenty pounds. The females are generally much larger 
than the males, and when about to leave the river for the 
spawning ground both sexes assume a brilliant silvery colour 
on the under surface. The Eel is probably the hardiest fish 
of any in the British Isles, and it has been known to live for 
many weeks in the damp mud of dried-up ditches. [els are 
fairly numerous in the Wharfe, though they do not frequent 
the river in such large numbers as is the case of the streams 
which fall into the Bristol Channel. Specimens cf a pound 
weight are not uncommon, and in the neighbourhood of 
Tadcaster, and at Ulleskelf, fish of larger proportions may be 
taken. We understand that at one time a regular Eel fishery 
existed at the latter place. 
THE STURGEON is limited to the northern hemisphere, and 
its geographical distribution is nearly identical with that of 
the Salmon. It is the largest of the freshwater fishes, 
and occasionally exceeds a length of fifteen feet. In Britain 
they are not common, but in Asiatic Russia they are found 
in large numbers in most streams. In England the Sturgeon 
is a Royal fish. When caught in the Thames above 
London Bridge it is claimed and presented by the Lord 
Mayor to the Sovereign. It is very seldom that examples 
are taken in the Wharfe. Many years ago one found its way 
into the Leeds market from somewhere below Tadcaster, and 
in 1843 or 1845 a live Sturgeon weighing sixteen stones was 
recovered by two fishermen whilst netting for Salmon between 
1913 June 1. 
