190 
THE FISHES OF LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND. 
sight of him ; he seemed nearly three feet in length, and I estimated his weight 
at from 8 to 10 lbs. He took out at a rush as much line as a 20 lb. Salmon I 
had in the river Shin in Sutherlandshire ; but he broke my casting-line, which 
was very fine gut, and I thus lost him.” All these fish were taken by Scotch 
lake-flies, and before the Fishing Club was formed. 
Mr G-. L. Johnson tells me that, after the formation of the Club, “ 6 lbs. 
was the largest Trout caught. Mr. Charles Packe, of Stretton Hall, Mr. W. B. 
Farnham, of Quorn, and I caught one apiece of that weight the same day.” 
The flesh of these Trout is reported to have been of an apricot colour, and 
of a singular excellence in flavour. The glories of Thornton have, however, 
alas ! departed, probably for ever. First came a fungoid growth of the nature of 
Saproiegnia ferax ; and then, by some means or another, Perch were introduced, 
— some .say by fishermen emptying their bait-cans, though I do not know who 
would use Perch as bait, and the more probable explanation is that given 
by Mr. G. L. Johnson, who writes ; — “ The fishing was entirely ruined, un- 
intentionally, by an owner on the hills who had a stew in which he kept Perch. 
In a flood, some small ones were washed down to the Reservoir, and the mischief 
was done, which can never be cured. Before that there were no Perch.” 
IMr. J. G. Browne writes, regarding the Trout in the two brooks connected 
with the Reservoir : — “ In the Desford brook, which is a brook of good size 
(streams and small pools) in which Grayling xuould thrive, I feel sure — I Ashed 
this many years ago — Trout of 2 lbs. and upwards were not rare. The Markfleld 
brook, which falls in at the head of the reservoir, is small, and after the reservoir 
was formed was a small spawning-ground mainly, and before the formation of 
the Reservoir I never heard it contained any large Trout, though in January 
of one year (I think 18G2) I went up with the keeper (Massey) to see the 
fish spawning, and I saw one large fish, in a part of the brook I could almost 
have stridden over, which was busy spawning. I lay down on the turf, and 
placed my walking-stick on the ground, one end opposite the snout of the fish 
and the other at the tail, and the fish was nearly the length of my stick 
(quite 3 feet); his (or her) weight must have been 11 or 12 lbs.” 
Mr. Horn writes me that “In 188G, a Trout of 5 lbs. was taken by rod 
and line in the Eye River above Allexton, and at the same place two fish 
were seen fighting ; the perscm seeing them fetched a gun — ‘ tell it not in Gath’ — • 
and shot both : one was a Pike of 5 lbs., and the other a Trout of 3| lbs.” 
In 1887, some Trout were introduced by the Angling Society into the river 
Soar, near Aylestone ; and on IGth March, 1888, the second instalment of 530 
yearling Trout were introduced, being purchased from the Marquis of Exeter’s 
fishery, and Mr. W. T. Silk, the manager, who has kindly given me much 
information, writes that they “ were a cross between 8. fario and 8. ferox, and 
grow to a large size and are very game.” 
