2 COARSE FISH. 



from a conversation with a Trent angler whom 

 Thames ^ "^^t on the bank. On telling him of 

 and" a day's fishing in July, he asked the depth. 

 '^'^^"* of the water fished. I told him from fifteen 

 to twenty feet, and he seemed surprised at getting 

 barbel at such a depth at that time of year. I 

 invited him to try, and, sure enough, we got barbel, 

 float-fishing in that depth of water. The great 

 disturbance of the water may account for this, 

 causing the fish to seek deeper swims, where punt- 

 poles seldom or never touch the bottom. Excessive 

 punting has done much to spoil Thames fishing of 

 late years ; in shallow water, there is so much 

 thrusting down of poles into the gravel (or mud, as 

 the case may be), and the fish are more disturbed 

 and worried than by the passage of a sculling or 

 rowing boat. Nearly all the shallow water is 

 probed by punt-poles, incessantly on busy days ; 

 sculling-boats and canoes disturb the surface, but 

 punt-poles reach the bed of the river, and disturb the 

 whole water wherever it is shallow enough for the 

 pole to be used. Add to this the churning up of the 

 water by launches in the summer, and it is not 

 surprising that fish should resort to the deeps for pro- 

 tection and quiet. I have never fished the Trent, but if 

 Trent anglers bear in mind all the disturbance of the 

 Thames, regattas included, the differences may then 

 be to a great degree adjusted. For mature fish, 

 this disturbance may mean preservation, as it drives 

 them away from the banks and shallows to the 

 pools and weirs, into places almost inaccessible to 

 the angler, whether fishing from punt or bank. I 

 am certain, however, that the wash of the launches 

 kills millions of fry of all sorts, to say nothin"- of 

 the damage done to spawn. 



