THE EISIIING GAZETTE 
[January 21, 1893 
IG 
FROM NORFOLK. 
'to the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
Since my last report nothing has been done by anglers 
in this district, and things are not more promising than 
they were a week ago, for, after writing last Wednesday, 
the thermometer dropped suddenly to several degrees 
below freesing, and, although on Friday several wherries 
made the passage down the Yare to Yarmouth, on 
Friday night the frost was so severe that it bound 
together the floating ice below Cantley to Beedham, so 
that on Saturday morning a party of sportsmen were 
able to cross the river on the ice. 
This week has seen many changes in the weather. On 
Monday night it was thawing fast, but early on Tuesday 
morning another frost came. This broke up again this 
(Wednesday) morning, and it has been raining at 
intervals during the day. I trust this will continue. 
Anyhow, there will be no chance of fishing in any of the 
waters of the district for a week at least. 
FROM NOTTINGHAM. 
To the E itor of the Fishing Gazette. 
The frosty weather is, apparently, brea)ring up. On 
Tuesday afternoon snow fell heavilj^, and soon capped 
the hills and frees, but during the night a sudden change 
eet in. On Wednesday the “white mantle” had dis¬ 
appeared, and towards evening the Trent here began to 
rise rapidly. Since my last notes, chub-fishing has 
formed the main attraction, and those of the fraternity 
who know how to fish properly and use the right sort of 
baits, have returned from their favourite haunts or 
angling-grounds with substantial baskets of really fine 
fish. On Monday, at Fiskerton, Mr. P. Wilson, of the 
Nottingham Bowling Green Society, who was accom¬ 
panied by Sheaker, killed, amongst others, one of 3[lb., 
and on Friday I bagged eleven in “ double rpiick ” time. 
Owing to the hard condition of the ground, the difficulty 
of securing worms has been keenly felt; in fact, none 
could be obtained excepting from those who, fortunately, 
had laid in a stock in anticipation of severe weather. 
In the latter part of last week, one of the subscribers 
(Mr. W. Stevenson) to the Holme Pierrepont Fishery, 
performed a record feat, so far as barbelling in winter 
is concerned. This gentleman was out chub fishing with 
bullock’s pith and brains, when he noticed some large 
fish on the move in one of the levies below the weir. 
Having some worms in his basket, he threaded one on 
his hook, and had scarcely manipulated a swim, ere he 
was fast in what turned out to be a barbel. Other swims 
brought further fish of the same species, and finally the 
angler retired wdth something like 201b., including a 
splendid specimen of 61b. odd. The previous night had 
been very severe, and even whilst the angler was on the 
banks of the river, ice-floes were drifting downwards. 
Barbel are described by all authors on barbel fishing 
as essentially a summer fish. Only scant knowledge 
exists as to their habits and movements in the depth of 
winter, and yet in the case under notice the fish bit most 
ravenously, and what is more they were found to be in 
splendid condition, although it was noticed they did not 
carry so much bloom on their scales as they do in the 
summer season. Since the capture, many fishermen of 
my ncquainfance have doubted the species of the fish, 
contending that Mr. Stevenson must have mistaken 
them for chub, but, knowing as I do know, that they 
were seen by competent followers of the barbelling 
craft, it is unfair to throw any shadow of doubt upon 
their authenticity. 
I have known odd fish to be caught with the Cock- 
spur in the first month of the year, when the weather 
has been open and genial, but never, until last week, 
did I know them to bo killed with ice fringing the 
banks of the river. Three years ago, last November, I 
hooked and killed one with greaves, whilst chubbing at 
Shelford, and the feat, even in that month, was regarded 
as a novel one. I have a strong impression that barbel, 
after leaving their summer haunts, betake themselves to 
the sand-beds in the river, and there remain throughout 
the winter. Mr. Stevenson’s fish were got off the 
sand-beds, and the one I bagged w'as on a sandy bottom. 
On Saturday coarse fish anglers were out on most of 
the reaches near Nottingham, and I learn that in Clifton 
Grove Mr. J. Boyd landed, with the cockspur worm, 
twelve roach, averaging as many pounds each. During 
the day the water rose several inches, and on Sunday 
there W’as fully a foot on. That “snow broth” was in 
the river was evident, for the water stood at 32 degrees. 
And yet roach were got! 
On Monday the river was comparatively thick, and as 
the weather was dull and threatening, very little was 
done. It was too cloudy for chub fishing, with 
either greaves or pith and brains, but pike were found 
to run, and one splendid fish (lljlb.) was brought in 
from IVilford. Towards night rain fell rather heavily. 
In my last notes, 1 briefly stated that the Wellington 
Society was about to negotiate with Lord Bonington, of 
Bonington Park, for the acquirement of the Shardlow 
fishery. The executive of the society had been led to 
believe that Mr. Wood, the lessee, had given up the 
water with the fall of the old year, but subsequent 
inquiries revealed the fact that he had not. Negotia¬ 
tions have since been in progress with that gentleman, 
and next week I hoiie to announce the result. 
On Monday night, a most successful smoking concert 
was held at the Wellingtonians headquarters. The 
Nottingham Lyric Society gave their services as a com¬ 
pliment to an excellently conducted angling organisation, 
and the effective an 1 brilliant way in which the mem¬ 
bers rendered their songs, part songs, glees, &o., was 
fully appreciated by a very large gathering. The 
society’s own glee party also helped to swell the general 
harmony of the proceedings. 
FROM SHEFFIELD. 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
There has been nothing doing lately. Daring the 
frosty weather anglers remained at home, and they have 
not had many inducements to get into the country even 
since the thaw set in. In some parts of Lincolnshire 
the waters are still ice-bound, while in other directions, 
where the ice has yielded to the more genial atmo.sphere, 
the general conditions are hardly compatible with suc¬ 
cessful fishing. Consequently there is nothing to say 
on the score of results. 
The recent decision of the Local Government Board in 
the matter of the Manchester sewage scheme, has drawn 
public attention to the fact that there is a vast amount 
of river pollution taking place in this part of the country. 
Here in Sheffield we are sufferers to a great degree. 
Although wo have in and about the town throe or four 
rivers that ought to bo fishable, and a good canal, it is a 
notorious fact that every Sheffield fisherman has to take 
train and journey from twenty to seventy miles away 
from home before he can unpack his rod with any hope 
of success. Take the Don, for instance. This stream, 
as is well known, rises on the Penistone Moors, 
twenty miles or so from Sheffield, running through what 
has been famed in prose and verse as one of the 
loveliest valleys in England. At one time the Don was 
a well-known angling stream ; to-day, for the greater 
part of its course, it does not contain a single living 
fish. Time was when trout were caught in the centre of 
the town; to-day there is not a trout in the whole 
length of the Don after the first half-dozen miles from 
its source. From Deepcar to Sheffield the river is very 
n>uch polluted by paper mills and one thing or another, 
but it is in Sheffield that the chief sinners are found. 
For nearly two miles either side of the river is lined 
with manufactories, every other one of which adds its 
quota to the filth which daily is discharged into it. At 
tbo lower end of Sheffield the Nunnery Colliery Com¬ 
pany daily turn into the Don thousands of gallons of 
“ coal washings,”-—a thick, black, filthy liquid, con¬ 
taining solids to the proportion of about one in ten. 
This finishes the work commenced higher up the stream. 
Up to that point the river has not altogether lost its 
country appearance, but, after passing the Nunnery’s 
depot, it assumes the nature of a cesspool—becomes a 
solid, inky mass of pollution, as Bradley has appro¬ 
priately said. From Sheffield to Doncaster it remains 
pretty much in the same condition, although, as it 
nears the last named town, the abominable sediment 
begins to settle. After leaving Doncaster there are 
fish to be encountered, and at Long Sandall salmon 
are still occasionally met with. Then there is the 
Little Don River, the Loxley, the Sheaf, the Porter, the 
Dearne, and the Dove—a vastly different kind of stream 
from its Derbyshire namesake—each of which is ruined 
by pollution. Why is this? Who are the real offenders— 
the persons who pollute the rivers or the authorities who 
take no steps to hinder them ? In the case of the Don the 
real offenders are the responsible members of the Sheffield 
Corporation. If they have the power to prevent whole¬ 
sale pollution let them exercise that power ; if they have 
not, let them apply to Parliament for power to summon 
anyone turning offensive matter into the stream, and to 
impose heavy penalties for every day the pollution is 
continued. It will only be by such means as these that 
the Don will become anything like its former self—that 
fishing therein will revive, and that the Sheffield artisan 
may follow his favourite sport without the necessity of 
spending about a tenth part of his wage and a third part 
of his day in reaching a fishable piece of water. 
FROM SHROPSHIRE. 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
It is with deep regret we record the death of Mr. J. 
Hawley Edwards, who for many years has faithfully 
discharged the duties of magistrate’s clerk to the borough 
of Shrewsbury. The late Mr. Edwards was a zealous 
angler, a prominent member of the Shrewsbury Severn 
Angling Society, and a most valuable representative of 
Salopian anglers on the Severn Board of Conservators, 
in which capacities he has done much to further the 
interests of the brotherhood. The deceased, who was in 
the prime of life, has suffered a lingering illness through 
a cancerous growth in the throat, to which he succumbed 
on Friday in last week, at the Queen’s Hotel, Old 
Colwyn, whither he had been removed in the hope that 
the progress of the dread disease might be arrested. He 
leaves a wife and family to mourn his loss. 
The members of the Ironbridge Angling Society held 
their annual meeting at the house of their worthy mem¬ 
ber, Mr. Toddington, on Monday evening. Mr. J. C. W. 
Lister, whose interest in the institution has, without 
doubt, contributed in no small degree to its popularity 
and success, occupied the place of honour at the head of 
affairs, and read a letter from Lord Bradford accepting 
the presidency. The report of the secretary, Mr. Wag- 
horne, was very satisfactory, and showed a balance on 
the right side of the ledger. Mr. Lister was re-elected 
chairman for the coming season, with an appropriate 
expression of thanks from the members for his services 
in the past. Mr. Beddoes, a valued member and a suc¬ 
cessful angler, was appointed vice-chairman, after which 
votes of thanks wore liberally distributed among the 
retiring officers. A resolution was arrived at that the 
private prize fund should be continued, and it was 
furthermore decided that the pictures recently presented 
to the society by the chairman should be suitably 
framed and prominently displayed in the club room. 
Other business of minor importance was transacted, and 
the rest of the evening was devoted to joviality, con¬ 
geniality, conviviality, and harmony. 
FROM YORK AND DISTRICT. 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
It has been hard times of late for the poor contributor 
to angling literature, as several writers have already 
observed, for who could write fishing notes with the 
rivers frozen over, and skaters, in unlimited numbers, 
gliding over their glassy surface ? Even yet the ice has 
not disappeared, and he who has braved the elements, 
rod in hand, during the past few days, must indeed have 
been an ardent piscator. Yet I have heard of one or 
two gentlemen journeying to the banks of the Codbeck, 
but it is doubtful if their remuneration warranted their 
exctirsion. 
Captain W. H. Key, of Fulford Hall, was on Tuesday 
unanimously re-elected president of the Fulford Friendly 
Angling Society for another year. Few gentlemen in 
his position take such a keen interest in angling matters, 
and a bettor president it would bo hard to obtain by any 
association. The members of the club will hold their 
annual dinner the first Wednesday in February. 
The agenda for the annual meeting of the Yorkshire 
Fishery Board, to be held at the Station Hotel, York, 
on Saturday, the 23th inst., contains one or two items of 
interest to the general body of anglers in the district. 
Principal amongst them is a proposition by Colonel 
Arthur Brooksbank, of Middleton Hall, with respect to 
the adoption of a bye-law for the extension of the season 
for fishing for trout and char in waters under the control 
of the Driffield Angling Club. The motion sots forth 
“ That the period during which it shall be illegal to take 
trout and char, shall be only between the l-4th day of 
October, and the 15th day of March following, both 
inclusive.” A letter will also be read from Mr. P. G. 
Forman, hon. secretary of the Pacific Angling Associa¬ 
tion, Hull, asking the Board for an amendment of the 
Trout Fisheries Act. A motion is also down in the 
name of Mr. Arthur Wood, with reference to the pro¬ 
ceeding with the reconstruction of Linton Fish Pass 
during the coming spring. It would also appear that 
the Lower Ouse fishermen would desire a month’s exten¬ 
sion of the netting season after August 31, but that is a 
matter of minor interest to the rod and line man. 
Altogether the agenda comprises some ten or eleven 
items. 
FROM IRELAND. 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
ULSTER.—Lough Neagh fishers keep harping away at 
their grievances. Last Friday an enormous mass meet¬ 
ing of them was held in the Temple of Liberty at 
Toome, where some of the rising orators got opportuni¬ 
ties of spouting to their heart’s content. Limbs of the 
law, anxious to ingratiate themselves with the fishers— 
who, by the way, are the most quarrelsome and litigations 
set in creation—ymung doctors, seeking a practice, 
carpet-bagging politicians preparing for the next election 
were there, all eagerly espousing the cause of the poor, 
needy fishermen, from pure disinterestedness, of coarse. 
A recently-created Jaw Pay presided, and the following 
erudite resolutions were adopted, amid much cheering, 
yelling, shouting, and drinking of healths ; “ That having 
submitted our grievances, in hope of obtaining redress, 
to the consideration of the Coleraine Board of Con¬ 
servators at a special meeting, held at Coleraine the 
10th ult,. they refused to concede or alter anything, 
but agreed that inquiries bo held at Stewartstown, 
Crumlin, and Frome Bridge by the Inspectors of Irish 
Fisheries ; and as such an inquiry has not been held, 
we, the fishermen of Lough Neagh, in public meeting 
assembled, do express our want of confidence in that 
board as a body, and resolve that a deputation be ap¬ 
pointed to communicate with Messrs. W. J. Revnolds, 
M.P., T. M. Healy, M.P., M. MoCartan, M'.P., P. 
McGilligan, M.P., and J. Mains, M.P., in order to 
prepare and introduce a Bill at an early period to 
redress some of the many grievances under which 
we labour. (2.) That, considering the constitution 
of the board of conservators, we hold that pro¬ 
portional representation is required; that as the two 
divisions named A and B conjointly form one district 
and board, the eight elected members should be elected 
by one general election for the district by all qualified 
electors therein. That, as the small portion from Port 
Eusen to Brownhill (A) returns four members, the 
upper division (B) of Lough Neagh, containing four- 
fifths of the electors, is limited to the same number of 
members, whereas, by equal proportion. Lough Neagh 
should return twenty members. Moreover, seeing that 
the board consists of an unlimited number of ex officio 
members, which renders the four Lough Neagh mem¬ 
bers powerless, we are resolved that nothing short of 
fair and adequate and proportional representation will 
satisfy ns in this matter.” 
The fishers are insatiable, and, to put in a nutshell, 
they want to completely destroy the Lough Neagh 
fisheries, and angling on its five or six noble rivers ; or, 
in other words, they wish to have the poaching, which is 
at present carried on, legalised by Act of Parliament. 
Scarcely a day jiasses but that consignment of unseason¬ 
able salmon, trout, and pollen, leave the railway-stations 
of Stewartstown, Coalisland, Moneymore, Magherafelt, 
and Toome, for Liverpool, Manchester, London, and 
Glasgow, and these under the very noses of the con¬ 
stabulary. _ 
To Secretaries of Angling Clubs, Fish Pro¬ 
tection Societies, and Associations. —'The editor of 
the Fishing Gazette will be glad to receive a copy of the 
X/rinted rules of all angling clubs and associations 
throughout Great Britain and Ireland, and also abroad. 
The editor will be pleased to send a strong cloth read¬ 
ing case gratis and carriage paid, to any angling society 
or association. 
