Waltotts River. 101 



prietor, like the proprietor of the Broxbourne fishery lower 

 down, takes a personal interest in their wants. Roach, 

 chub, jack, perch, and occasional trout are to be found in 

 the Lea, and all the fisheries are well stocked. I strolled 

 away down Lea-side by the tow-path, and soon left the 

 music and singing in the rear. It was possible, therefore, 

 after all to get my quiet day, and I appreciated it perhaps 

 all the more after the experiences of the railway carriage 

 and the sash-wearing boozers. There were four or five 

 solitary anglers quietly ensconced On the sedgy margin, 

 admirable examples of the Lea style of fishing. Upon this 

 river no punt is necessary. The holes are well known, and 

 each swim has its name, often that of an angler who has at 

 some time or other performed heroic feats worthy of com- 

 memoration in a substantial form. 



The jack season had not begun, and the solitary anglers 

 were looking after roach and chub. They used single hair 

 foot lines, no running tackle, and fine quill floats, carefully 

 plumbing the depth, and using ground-bait with much more 

 discretion than is usual amongst Thames anglers. One man 

 wielded a rod two-and-twenty feet in length, and a tight line 

 only long enough to give a clear eighteen inches between 

 point and float. It must have been extremely tiring to 

 handle the lengthy bamboo and take the joints apart at the 

 capture of every fish. The men angled with consummate 

 patience and skill. He of the twenty-two feet implement 

 caught a chub of more than a pound weight soon after I had 

 sat down to watch him. To my perception the porcupine 

 float did not betray a bite or a nibble, but the angler saw a 

 movement, to which his ready wrist responded by a quick 

 outward action, the effect of which doubtless astonished the 

 hooked fish. The chub, chub-like, at first made a dangerous 

 run for it, but the point of the rod dexterously followed his 



