204 ANGLING 



little repute for tlie scientific angler. Bottom-fishing is 

 the staple commodity of the Oxfordshire craft. 



The Axe, in Dorsetshire, is one of the finest of the 

 rivers in this part of England for trout-fishing. It 

 rises near Axeknoller, Beaminster, in this county, and 

 flowing by the towns of Axminster and Golyton, falls 

 into the Channel on the east coast of Devonshire. As 

 a fishing stream it cannot be surpassed, either for the 

 beauty of its scenery or the rippling pleasantness of 

 its waters. There is a constant succession of fine 

 streams and deep pools, and its gravelly bed is admirably 

 fitted for the trout and salmon. There are likewise 

 dace and eels in considerable numbers. Its waters are 

 open to all anglers, and the absence of anything like 

 troublesome brushwood adds greatly to the facility and 

 ease of the rod-fisher's movements. It has suiSered 

 considerably from a lawless and reckless system of 

 poaching, but this has been in some degree checked by 

 an angling association formed at Crewkerne, by the 

 rules of which the season commences on the 1st of March 

 and ends on the 1st of October. This is a wise 

 regulation. We have often thought and felt the force 

 of the truth ourselves — that English rod-fishers should 

 be very sparing of their trout-fishing even in the month 

 of September; but, at anyrate, the 1st of October is 

 late enough. This, with other striugent regulations on 

 the Axe,, have made its waters once more a place where 

 a good day's sport can be obtained by the honest and 

 fair angler. The trout do not run very large, averaging 

 about six to eight ounces ; still, this is no iasignificant 

 magnitude. The two principal fishing stations are 

 Crewkerne for the higher sections of the water, and 

 Axminster for the central and lower. But there is 

 abundance of accommodation in every direction along 

 the banks of this really beautiful and interesting stream. 



The other rivers that run more or less in this county 

 are the Char, the JEype, the Wey, the Frame, and the 

 Stour. There is fair fishing with fly in most of them. 

 The Stour is the largest stream, but is navigable for two- 

 thirds of its length, which is sixty-five miles ; and this, 



