12 MAKING A FISHERY. 



bed of a river where the cut weeds are left to 

 decompose, is what is meant here by the word 

 mud. The assertion, too, that a small quantity 

 of it in portions of the water is an advantage 

 must not be distorted into a statement that 

 the Author advocates the presence of deposits, 

 many feet in thickness, of foul, foetid black 

 mud in the deeper and slower running reaches 

 of his ideal trout stream. Such is not my 

 intention. The mud I wish to see in a river is 

 that pale coloured, gritty, sandy, and odourless 

 detritus in which the celery roots freely and 

 the Mayfly larva loves to burrow, and without 

 which the Mayfly itself cannot be present in 

 great numbers. The larvae of the Alder, as 

 well as some of the larger Caddis, are invariably 

 plentiful in this class of mud ; and, wherever it 

 is found in a stream, there, too, will the largest, 

 best conditioned, and gamest trout congregate 

 and feed. 

 Accessibility A matter requiring consideration when deter- 



andaccom- . . . 



modation. mining whether to take or refuse a particular 

 piece of water, is its accessibility. This must 

 depend on a variety of circumstances, such as 

 distance from the nearest railway station, the 

 time occupied in travelling from one's home to 

 the riverside, the train service, the fares, the 

 punctuality of the trains, the available convey- 

 ances from the station to the river, &c, &c. 



