SUPPLEMENT TO THE FISHING GAZETTE 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1893. 
ptrovincial Botes 
FROM BIRMINGHAM AND DISTRICT. 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
The monthly committee meeting’ of the Birmineham 
Anglers’ Benevolent Society ■was held at the headquarters 
on Friday evening, Jan. 26. Mr. T. Coles presided, and 
Mr. C. White occupied the vice-chair. The meeting was 
very well attended. Several vacancies have occurred 
through the resignations of members who were unable to 
attend the meetings owing to other business engagements. 
The secretary had been instructed to communicate with 
several societies identified with the society, asking them 
to appoint members to fill the vacancies. A letter was 
read from the Garrison Lune Club, in which they pointed 
out that they were unable to find a member willing to 
serve on the committee. After hearing the letter read, 
it was resolved that the Small Heath Society be written 
to to appoint a member on the committee. The reports 
given in by the chairmen of the divisional committees 
were very encouraging, especially those of Nos. 1 and 2 
divisions. Favourable reports were given in from the 
St. Paul's Society by Mr. J. Hughes, and also from the 
Highgate Park Society, by Mr. Gough, the club having 
enrolled a number of new members during the past week. 
The secretary reported that the health of the members 
was all that could be desired, as not one single applica¬ 
tion had been made to him for assistance during the late 
hard frost. He also informed the meeting that the 
friends of the deceased belonging to the Spring 
Hill Society were not entitled to benefit as 
the member had not been identified with the 
society long enough. Several clubs were men¬ 
tioned by the secretary as owing small sums to 
the society, when it was resolved that the divisional 
committee took the matter up and report at the next 
meeting. The clubs not connected with the Benevolent 
Society will be visited in the order on the list, and on 
Monday evening next it was decided to go in a body to 
the Ladywood Club and see what could be done to 
induce some of their members to join, other clubs will 
be visited in due course. 
A party of gentlemen at Fazeley, near to Tamworth, 
intend going in for trout fishing during the forthcoming 
season. On what is called the Draycot Manor Estate 
there are about seven large pools, four or five of which 
have been cleaned out and all prepared for stocking 
with trout; the coarse fish taken out of the pools have 
been placed in the two pools rented by twenty-five 
members of the St. George’s Society. No expense will 
be spared by the gentlemen who have the affair in hand 
to make the pools the best trout fishing in the Midlands. 
When the pools are stocked and ready for fishing, which 
will be some time to come, the committee, who are all 
ardent fly-fishermen, intend letting the fishing to gentle¬ 
men at so much per rod, fly-fishing only allowed. The 
subscription will be about ten guineas per rod. I am 
informed some splendid fish have been placed in the 
pools for stocking purposes, and another large quantity 
are to be put in shortly. The honorary secretary is Mr. 
F. J. Bourne, of Fazeley, and this gentleman will be 
pleased to give any information anyone may require 
upon the matter, as the names of subscribers are now 
being taken. 
The weather since my last notes were posted has 
been very nice and mild for the time of year, and a good 
few of our members have been out in search of a little 
sport. Eivers, canals, and pools have been fished, but 
very little sport has been obtained, and, taking the fish¬ 
ing on the whole, sport up to the present has been a 
blank. This, no doubt, is owing to the late severe frosts, 
which the fish have not as yet recovered from. The 
snow broth is not yet all out of the water, and it will 
perhaps be some little time before the fish entirely 
recover themselves. 
The St. George’s Club, at their ordinary meeting on 
Monday evening last, decided to hold a bye contest on 
March 5 next, in the River Anker, in that portion of the 
river below Reed’s farm. A first-rate lot of prizes are 
on hand, which the committee hope to see cleared out 
previous to the annual contest. 
FROM DERBYSHIRE. 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
The salmon fishing season opened, nominally at least, 
on Thursday, and it is to be hoped that both for rod 
and net it will be in every way an improvement upon 
its predecessor. It certainly could be no worse, for not 
more than a dozen fish fell to the rod, so far as I have 
been able to ascertain, throughout the whole of last 
season, while the total capture by the nets did not 
exceed 12001b.—in fact fell short of that figure—as 
ofSeially ascertained, though allowance must be made 
for unrecorded, and it is to be feared, illegitimate 
captures. I had an opportunity towards the close of 
the season, of examining the results obtained by netting 
for nearly thirty years on one of the lowest stations on 
the Trent (the fishing was worked by its owner) dnd 
discovered that the results varied very much from year 
to year, and that away back in the sixties there 
Were some very bad years—the geneaal rule being, 
as one -would expect in water not far removed from 
■tidal influence, that a dry year was the best. For in¬ 
stance, in 1884, over the whole river, no fewer than 2700 
salmon were taken in the nets, while 450 fell to the rod. 
The latter averaged 121b. We can hardly hope for such 
another season as that, bnt there is at the same time, no 
necessity for despair as to the future of the river. I do 
not know, however, that the said season did much good 
to the river, as the fish found their way into such streams 
as the Soar and the Dover Beck, in which they had 
scarcely ever been found before, and which certainly 
were very far from being suitable homes tor spawning 
and wintering fish. This year, though far from being so 
numerous, their conduct has been rather eccentric, some 
fish running up into the dangerous neighbourhood of 
Burton, a few up the polluted Churnet, while, I am sorry 
to say, a good few took the Derwent. In the 
last named river there are said to be many diseased 
fish between Wilne Weir and the junction of the river 
with the Trent. The Dove, though not perfect, is, in 
view of the polluted state of certain portions of the 
Derwent, through which the salmon would have to pass 
in their ascent to the spawning beds, by far the best 
tributary of the Trent for salmon to take, and there are 
plenty of good spawning beds between, say. Dove Cliff 
(near Egginton), right up to Rocester. Spawning opera¬ 
tions on the Dove were very successful, and, so far as I 
have observed, the fish are all off the redds, and have 
started on their long and venturesome journey to the 
sea. Even if everything turns out as favourably as it 
promises to do, this successful spawning on the Dove 
will hardly affect the river to any appreciable extent for 
a few years to come. On April 1, 1889, it may be 
remembered, that the Trent Board turned in just 
above the tidal waters—a very questionable locality 
to ensure return—300 salmon smolts, all marked, but 
not one of these has ever come to hand again, so that 
it takes many smolts to ensure a head of fish in any 
salmon river. However, we can only hope for the best, 
though it will, on the analogy of last year, probably be 
March before anything is done, though this will, of 
course, depend upon the prevalence of floods or other¬ 
wise, as Trent fish require a very big water to set them 
fairly a-going. 
The weather of late has, of course, been very mild 
compared wsth the sort of weather we experienced before 
the thaw, but the rain and thaw combined have kept 
the rivers in a fluctuating condition, and there was 
a good deal too much snow broth, even up to last 
Saturday, in them for very successful angling. This 
was probably due to the continuous melting of the 
snow in the upland districts. Despite of this, I 
heard of one phenomenal bag for the season, namely, 
461b., having been made in the tVeston district. This 
consisted of one pike, weighing 91b., the remainder 
being a mixed lot. In the Pride of Derby water, some 
fair chub up to 31b. have recently been taken, and a few 
good roach and dace ; but the season has in that club’s 
water been a very poor one for pike. It is one of the 
best watched club-waters in Derbyshire, and the club 
has very stringent rules with regard to undersized 
fish being retained. Pike-fishing will be allowed in the 
club waters, right up to the close of the coarse fish 
season—a questionable policy, as the pike are already 
full of spawn. From the upper tributaries no report 
of anything special is to hand, and, though the waters 
aro in fair order, and the weather not unsuitable, 
there is a great dearth of anglers. Of the success of 
the trout-spawning season it is impossible as yet to 
speak with any degree of certainty, but it will, at 
least, not be a failure, though the fish, owing to the 
lateness of the season, will not be in good condition 
until well on in April. 
I hear of a very large pike being located below Weston 
Cliff. One or two anglers have been “ into ” this fish, 
but have been broken. Rumour says it is 401b. in 
weight, an exaggeration of course; bnt if it is a 251b. 
fish it will be an uncommonly large one for the Trent. 
I hope to be able to record its capture soon. 
I note the eaptnre of two Nottingham men when 
“ cleaching” in the Higging’s Meadow, on the Colwick 
estate, by the lessee, Mr. Green, as recorded by your 
Nottingham correspondent. There has, as yet, been, I 
know, no official communication received by the Trent 
Board as to the case. It is manifestly one for double 
prosecution—on the part of the lessee for his right, and 
on the part of the board for a breach of one of their bye¬ 
laws. There is a great deal of poaching in the Notting¬ 
ham district, and only recently two men were caught 
red-handed at midday netting the brook which runs 
into the Trent at Clifton Colliery. These men are, 
unfortunately, only subjects for private prosecution ; as 
the board in such cases has no power to interfere. They 
are, however, so I believe, to be privately prosecuted. 
The police seized the net, which was about eight yards 
long and of a very small mesh. 
Two men were fined recently for spearing eels in the 
Old Trent, near Eepton. 
The report of the engineers in connection with the 
experiments that have recently been going on at Lit- 
church on the Derby sewage, by means of the Lockwood 
process, is shortly expected, while it is probable that the 
Standard Sewage Company’s process will also be given a 
trial. This is satisfactory news, and it is to be hoped 
that the upshot of it all will be a vast improvement in 
the condition of the Derwent. 
At the time of dispatching rain is coming down heavily, 
and, as it has been wet all night, there is every prospect 
of a flood, which ought not only to bring some salmon 
up, but should also clear the rivers of the last of the 
snow-broth. _ 
FROM FEN DISTRICT (LINCOLNSHIRE). 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
Since", Tuesday the fen rivers and drains have been 
running high, and, moreover, the water has been heavily 
charged with colour, consequent upon the heavy rain¬ 
storms which have visited the district this week. Those 
anglers who ventured out on "Wednesday were somewhat 
surprised to find the watercourses so full, but the reason 
of this is owing to the Sock just now being very high. 
With an absence of rain for twenty-four hours, most of 
the top water will have run off. Pike invariably run 
better after a fresh, so that the present rains will have 
the effect of distributing the fish. In some lengths of 
the Forty-foot pike are reported to be scarce, especially 
at the Guthram end of the river. I cannot account for 
this, inasmuch as lower down, towards the Neslam 
Bridge, and between there and Donington Bridge, and 
in all the reaches south of the litter, pike fishing has 
been followed with the most gratifying results this 
season. As my information did not emanate from a 
very reliable source—at least from an experienced 
angler—I am inclined to think that good fish may be 
found at the southern end of the river as elsewhere. 
There is certainly one thing in favour of the report, and 
that is. it is seldom I receive any items from the 
Guthram end of the Forty-foot. Mr. Pearson sends me 
particulars of two days’ sport he had towards the end 
of last week, which shows that he captured eight fish 
varying in size from 31b. to 91b., and that he lost three 
others. Near the G. E. railway bridge, on the Bicker 
side, Mr. Dawson landed three on Saturday, weighing 
61b.’ 51b. 2oz., and 2ilb. ; and Mr. Winter got a brace 
weighing over 91b. nearer Donington. Odd fishermen 
are still to be seen trying for roach, and, I believe, Mr. 
Dunn has made a few good baskets during the last ten 
days. 
Some big things have been done on the Witham since 
my last report. A Boston gentleman, in one day, 
captured three pike, weighing in the aggregate 351b., 
and the largest turned the scale at 151b. Mr. Taylor 
and another gentleman trolling on the same river, landed 
sixteen pike in three days—the heaviest being a twelve- 
pounder. 
FROM HANTS AND BERKS. 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
An estate of some 860 acres—the Inglewood Estate 
—has just been disposed of. It .carries with it some 
very valuable fishing rights in the county of Berks. 
The price realise^ was just under ^850.000. 
The annual dinner of Sutton’s Angling Association— 
a very popular angling society—has recently been held. 
The prizes gained during the recent season were as 
follows :—first, perch and barbie, Mr. Gosletine ; first, 
pike, Mr. Bowsher; second, perch and roach, Mr. 
Critoher ; fourth, roach, Mr. Sadler ; first, roach, Mr. 
Blackman; third, roach, Mr. Belelor; fourth, roach, 
Mr. Marrilow; third, roach, Mr. Truman; Mr. Stacey, 
fifth, roach; Mr. Taylor, sixth, roach; Mr. Cooper, 
second, barbel; Mr. Fitzuren, seventh, roach. There 
were also other prizes awarded for junior members, and 
also for miscellaneous bags. The secretary’s report was 
of a satisfactory nature, and the association is in a 
good condition—both financially and numerically. 
Wild animals, once plentiful in this country, are now 
becoming very scare indeed. During the last few weeks 
a couple of badgers have been unearthed in a wood near 
Coombe, and they have since been sold as curiosities in 
a neighbouring market. 
The other day a couple of wild white ducks were shot 
near the city of Winchester. They are an exceedingly 
rare bird. 
The weather is now quite mild, but some time ago 
when it was sharper, seagulls were seen in flocks in the 
water meadows near Winchester.—J. E. W. 
FROM LANCASHIRE. 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
From the reports to hand it may be gathered that the 
prospects of sport are much brighter ; the rivers and 
streams are at last free from flood water, and the land¬ 
locked waters from ice. The Worsly (janal was well 
patronised last week end, and some very fair fish taken. 
Mr. Smith took a very fine roach from this popular fishery 
(on the 29th), easily turning the scale at lib. Several 
other fairly good catches are also reported from the same 
quarter. The end of the legal close season for trout is 
an omen of the near approach of the time when the 
season proper commences, but it will hardly do more 
than this, for no true sportsman will think of taking 
trout for some time to come. Still, however, anything 
that tends to bring us nearer to the desire of our hearts is 
welcome. The Stalybridge and District Angling Associa¬ 
tion is rapidly progressing in the programme adopted for 
stocking the acquired waters, and only a few days ago 
a quantity of really good fish were netted and safely 
transferred to the waters in the possession of the 
association. Mr. J. H. Hall is the pioneer of the move¬ 
ment, and deserves the thanks of the members. The 
Bolton Anglers appear to be well satisfied with the work 
of last year and the success of their programme, and in 
all probability 1893 will be a repetition of 1892 as 
regards the district levy of 23. 6d. Already we hear of 
additional waters being secured, and more in contem¬ 
plation. Mr. W. H. Derbyshire has been re-elected 
president, and Mr. T. W. Bedford, secretary. This 
society still maintains an exceptionally fine record for 
enthusiasm and progress. The Warrington Anglers 
are very much alive, their balance-sheet again shows a 
satisfactory surplus. They have followed the fashion 
in acquiring a canal fishery, and have already com¬ 
menced to stock the same; this is the fourth canal 
fishery organised within a very short time in Lancashire. 
A new code of rules has been adopted for the future 
working of the local association, which henceforth will 
act on independent lines for purely local benefits. 
There appears to be no end to new clubs, and, if 
rumour is correct, in a few days another club will be 
formed in Hulme. It is gratifying to learn from Oldham 
that the efforts of local fishermen to alleviate the pre¬ 
vailing distress in the town is meeting with a fair amount 
of success, and that some good work has been accom¬ 
plished in feeding the hungry little ones. Two impor- 
