SUPPLEMENT TO THE FISHING GAZETTE 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1893. 
Iprovincial flotes 
FROM BIRMINGHAM AND DISTRICT. 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
A meeting of the committee of the Birmingham 
Association was held at the headquarters, the Birming¬ 
ham Arms Hotel, Smithfield, on Thursday evening, 
Jan. 5. Mr. T. Coles presided, and Mr. J. A. Dance 
occupied the vice-chair. The chairman, in opening the 
meeting congratulated the members upon their election 
to olRce. It was pleasing to him to see some of the old 
faces in their old places, which went to show that the 
old members still retained the confidence of the associa¬ 
tion. He also welcomed the new members, and hoped 
that all would work with the object of benefiting the 
whole body of members, and that the best of friendship 
should exist in the present year as in the past. 
^Applause.) The balance sheet for the quarter ending 
Dec. 31 last was then read by the secretary. The 
expenses of the past (inarter had been rather heavy, but, 
after all liabilities had been disbursed, there remained 
the sum of .i£26 3s. 2d. to be carried forward to the 
credit account of the Association. The auditors gave in 
their report, which was in every way satisfactory. The 
balance sheet and report was adopted. It was moved 
from the chair, and seconded by the vice-chair, “ That a 
vote of condolence be given to Mr. Attwood in his 
bereavement through the loss of his wife, and that the 
sympathy of the whole of the Association Ije extended to 
him and his family in their great affliction.” The next item 
on the agenda was the annual Association dinner, which 
in all probability be held on Wednesday, Feb. 22. The 
committee ajjpointed to carry out the arrangement were 
Messrs. Coles, White, Dance, and Hughes. It was also 
resolved that 6d. extra be charged over the price of the 
dinner, and that the 6d. extra be used for the purpose of 
defraying the expenses. Two auditors being required to 
audit the current year’s accounts, Messrs. Allen and 
Holding were again elected wittout opposition. A visit¬ 
ing committee of five were appointed to visit clubs in the 
Birmingham District making application to join the asso¬ 
ciation. The gentlemen elected were Messrs. Hall, Allen, 
Coles, Dance, and Hughes. Mr. White brought before 
the committee his scheme for the acquiring of a silver 
challenge cup, to be fished for by the members of the 
Birmingham Association. The ideas advocated by Mr. 
White were laid before the committee only, the discus¬ 
sion on the matter will take place at the next committee 
meeting. 
I am sorry to hear that two of the Birmingham clubs 
are in a very low financial position, and one in par¬ 
ticular, has. or is about to, dissolve. This club is the 
Convivial, and it is to the loose way the business of the 
club had been managed that has caused its dissolution. 
The club has been repeatedly fined by the association 
for not complying with the bye-laws, and at the present 
time they are in debt to the association to the extent of 
15s. for fines for not sending representatives to the 
association meetings. At the last meeting of the Bir¬ 
mingham committee it was decided to visit the club on 
their next meeting night and report at the next com¬ 
mittee meeting. No cards will be issued to this society 
until all business matters are arranged to the satisfaction 
of the associiition. The other club is the Duddestone. 
This club has been trying to make headway, but it has 
been heavily handicapped by not having a suitable place 
of meeting: but this, I hope, will be overcome during 
the present year, when 1 hope they will be able to make 
up for lost ground, and place their club on a sound 
financial basis. 
The Plume Society has, for the first time, been placed 
in the fine list, more through inadvertence than design, 
by the worthy sec., Mr. A. Keeting, who has omitted 
not only to inform the club delegate of the meetings, 
but has also forgotten to pay the club’s subscription to 
the Birmingham Association. He has thus incurred a 
fine of 7s. fid. for both neglects. This matter was 
brought before the Plume Society by their president, 
Mr. Johnson, when I am informed Mr. Keeling was in¬ 
structed to pay for the neglect out of his own pocket. 
The new travelling cards for the Provincial and 
Birmingham Associations will be ready for issuing on 
Saturday evening next, so that the whole of the asso¬ 
ciations and clubs will have them to hand on Monday 
next. There will be separate cards for each railway, 
and the number of cards that will pass through the club 
secretary’s hands will be about 13,200, and the number 
of adhesive stamps, which represent one for each qoarter 
of the year, will be 52,800. This will give some estimate 
of the great proportions of the Provincial Angling 
Association. 'Jlhe Birmingham cards will be distributed 
this Saturday evening, Jan. 14th, at the head-quarters 
at 7.30 till 10,30. Secretaries i^lease note. 
FROM DERBYSHIRE. 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
The recent severe weather has, of late, practically put 
an end to angling in Derbyshire, both for all the 
varieties]of coarse fish, and, to some extent, for’grayling. 
The Trent is, in places, frozen over—in some of its 
stiller reaches, that is to say : while in most places there 
is a fringe of ice round the edge, and, at all places where 
not frozen over floating ice, coming down the more rapid 
tributaries, is pretty prevalent. So long as it snowed 
there was a good deal of snow-broth in the river, but 
when it ceased the hard frost, preventing any melti ng, 
kept the lying snow out of the river. On Sunday night 
we had a pronounced thaw, on Monday it was undecided, 
while on Tuesday morning there was a slight frost, fol¬ 
lowed by thaw, and in the evening it was again freezing, 
to be followed by a glorious day ou Wednesday, frosty 
in the morning, but very mild during the day, with snow 
threatening towards night. Matters are thus in a very 
uncertain state, but in any view, frost or thaw, the 
angling outlook is the reverse of hopeful, for in the 
former case matters will be in statu quo ante, and, in the 
latter, floating ice, floods, and snow-broth are certain to 
act as barriers to good sport. 
Very few anglers have been out in any of the reaches, 
and those who have been out have met with very scanty 
success. The Trent is in good order, if somewhat low, 
were it not for the ice, &c., already mentioned. There 
has been a good deal of poaching going on of late in the 
form of eel spearing—especially in the Wellington 
district—in the backwaters, the depredators taking 
advantage of the well-known fact that if a hole in the ice 
be made, eels (and other fish also) will congregate below 
it. The Trent Board, though willing to prosecute the 
offenders, are unable to do so, as it has not at present 
the legal power to do so, eel spearing being recognised 
specially as a legitimate method of capturing these fish. 
Two men were recently taken red-handed eel spearing in 
the Old Trent, near Eepton, and will be tried next week. 
There has been, up to this point, no excessive mortality 
amongst the coarse fish, though a good few have 
perished. 
From some of the tributaries, notably the Wye and 
the Derwent, fairly favourable reports are to hand, and 
some good bags have been made, especially in the latter, 
in Matlock reach. The rivers are in excellent condition, 
quite summer level, and the climatic conditions are 
eminently favourable for grayling fishing. The Dove 
just now is also very low, almost as low, in fact, as it 
was towards the end of August. I was up in the 
Rocester district on Monday, and the water was 
extremely clear, and in admirable order. I did not see 
a single trout or grayling. My object in visiting that 
part of the river was partly to see if any salmon had 
reached so far up the Dove, and if the trout were spawn¬ 
ing. Only one salmon has been seen above Tutbury 
(though more than one ascended the difficult Tutbury 
Weir during the last heavy flood), and it has, unfortu¬ 
nately, “ taken ” the polluted Churnet. Not only were 
no trout spawning, but there were no signs of their 
having done so—not a single “ scar ” being visible. The 
spawning season for trout is extremely late this year. 
At Milton hatchery the manager and assistants have 
been very busy for a long time, and spawning operations 
have been very successful. The fine brook above the 
hatchery has been completely depopulated by two 
herons, which have, however, been shot—one of them in 
the act of carrying a half-pound trout away from one of 
the ponds. A fair number of the trout, especially year¬ 
lings, escape every summer from the hatchery down the 
brook to the Trent, much, it is to be hoped, to the advan¬ 
tage of the latter. Two largish blind trout, which have 
somehow (for they never took food even when placed 
before their noses) managed to live in the ponds, have 
just been placed in the brook below, but the poor beasts 
have not moved, and can be, though free, lifted out and 
put back into the water with impunity. I also examined 
to-day a three-year-old (dead) land-locked salmon of 
about Jib. It had all the characteristics of a grown 
Salmo salar, save that it retained to the full the finger 
marks of the parr. 
The salmon-spawning season on the Dove has .so far 
been very successful. There are none too many fish, 
it is true, but the weather and water have both been 
favourable, and none of the “redds” which I have 
examined have in any way been disturbed. All we want 
now is a continuation of low water, for a sudden Dove 
flood might , be fatal. I saw only one diseased fish— 
apparently a large female — over 251b. which had 
spawned. 
I see by the meeting of the Derby County Council 
that the Burton-on-Trent authorities propose to spend 
a sum of .£25,000 on an additional culvert from their 
sewage farm into the Trent. It is to be hoped that 
this will not be permitted without protest, as it will 
mean additional pollution in the river, and Burton 
contributes more than its share already. 
At the same meeting the following were appointed 
conservators for Derbyshire, for the Trent Fishery 
District; the Earl of Loudon, Mr. Ellison, Mr. A. F. 
Hurt, Major Holmes, Lord Vernon, and Mr. E. H. Pares. 
Next week I hope to be able to record some successful 
angling. _ 
FROM FEN DISTRICT (LINCOLNSHIRE). 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
The severe weather continues, and angling is out 
of the question. In the early part of the week there 
were indications of a general break-up of the frost. 
Most of the snow which fell during the previous week 
disappeared under the influence of the thaw, and water 
began to accumulate on the ice. On Tuesday evening, 
however, there was a return of the sharp weather, and 
7 degs. of frost were registered. On ’VVednesday the 
barometer was steadily rising, the air was clear and 
keen, and there was every appearance of a continuance 
of the frost. Skating has been the order of the 
day for the past fortnight on nearly all the Fen rivers. 
Since despatching my notes last week, two or three 
accidents have been reported on the Forty-foot, and one 
of them, unfortunately, was attended with fatal results. 
A youth from Gosberton skated on the river to Boston, 
and, while returning, fell through a weak place in the 
ice near to Wyberton Chain Bridge. He instantly dis¬ 
appeared under the surface and was drowned. A boy, 
walking along the bank, witnessed the occurrence, but 
was unable to render any assistance. A gallant rescue 
is reported to have been effected by a child near to 
Donington Bridge. In this case a little girl, six years 
of age, while sliding on the river, fell into an ice hole. 
Happily, she rose again in the same place, and 
clutching the edge of the ice, held there until 
her little brother—a lad of eight—went to her 
assistance. _ Getting a firm grip, the boy held her 
from sinking, until some gentlemen, who were 
skating on the river, came up and took her out of the 
water. During my peregrinations this week, I met with 
an enthusiastic feu fisherman (Mr. Marsh), and our con¬ 
versation was quickly concentrated on the “gentle art.” 
Prior to the frost, he stated, he had some very good 
sport amongst the pike on the Forty-foot, taking ten one 
week, weighing over 501b., and eight another, of close 
upon 401b. A friend of his, whose captures I have not 
previously recorded, I ascertained, had so far this 
season, caught thirty fish, weighing considerably over 
1001b. Another Lincolnshire angler, who has been 
spending a holiday in the south, has, I hear, been getting 
some capital sport from a private lake in the neighbour¬ 
hood of Godaiming. Amongst other fish, he captured 
one pike weighing over Ifilb, 
FROM LANCASHIRE 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
The annual report of the Bolton District Angling 
Association is to hand. The business transacted is of 
a very extensive character, and, from the fact that no 
less than twenty-nine meetings of the committee of 
management were held, some idea can be formed of the 
magnitude of the business to be transacted. The asso¬ 
ciation possesses no less than eight different waters, 
and in the stocking of the same the following fish have 
been introduced (viz.) : 1200 yearling trout, to which 
must be added 5000 young fish now in the rearing ponds 
The hatching house at present contains about 20,000 ova 
on the grills. In addition to the trout, large quantities 
of coarse fish have been netted from other waters and 
safely transferred, at a cost for netting of some £12. 
There are no less than seven different departmental 
balance-sheets, in three of which a deficit occurs, but in 
the other four there appears a substantial and gratifying 
surplus. Summarised the total receipts are £72033.8jd., 
and payments £714 ISs. 4Jd., showung a balance to 
credit of £11 5s. 4d., bringing up the balance at bank 
to £44 17s. 3d. 
One or two items are especially interesting; Under the 
angling privileges account we find that about £80 has 
been spent, and in railway excursions about £470. 
Some twenty-four district prizes were offered for compe¬ 
tition, of which 75 per cent, were won in Lancashire 
waters, three in their own private waters ; whilst all the 
prizes offered for gudgeon were secured in the Worsley 
Canal, as follows : first, 2oz. 2gr3.; second, Ijoz. Slwts.; 
third, l|oz. Idwt. A graceful tribute is paid in the 
report to the board of this canal, and no doubt in the 
coming season Bolton will more liberally support this 
fishery. A rather novel announcement under the close, 
season notice reads as follows; “Coarse fish March 
15 to Saturday previous to Whit Monday.” That Bolton 
owes its present position to the untiring efforts of its 
secretary is an admitted fact, and let us hope the day is 
far distant when Mr. T. \V. Eedford will cease to 
occupy his present position, for Bolton without him 
would be like the play of Hamlet without the Prince. 
There are other towns in Lancashire having associations 
who would do well in going to school at Bolton, and 
thereby learn how to conduct their business for 'the 
benefit of their members. It will be gratifying to the 
well-wishers of the scheme to federate the anglers of 
Manchester, Salford, and district in one organisation, to 
learn that the Eev. C. P. Roberts has kindly consented 
to preside over the meeting, to be held at the Zoo¬ 
logical Gardens, Manchester, on Jan. 21. The meeting 
promises to be a success, and, with all classes of anglers 
attending, the highest hopes are entertained of a satis¬ 
factory scheme being adopted at the meeting in ques¬ 
tion. 
The recent festive season has a lot to answer for in 
the doings of our local anglers, and it is no wonder that 
in the enforced inactivity which at present prevails, 
other methods of enjoyment are adopted. Socials and 
dinners are of course prominent, and at one of the latter, 
held near Ardwick, the fun was glorious. One noted 
angler evidently fought his battles o’er again with a 
vengeance, even his dreams, but why an angler should 
add dreaming to his other failings is a mystery. At any 
rate, after seeking his virtuous couch, he engaged in 
deadly combat with a monster eel, and made frantic 
efforts to land the same, but why should the partner of 
his joys and sorrows be mistaken for an eel is somewhat 
puzzling. Some hard-hearted ones say she was all but 
landed on the floor. The friends of the jovial landlord 
of the Buckland Club will be glad to learn that the 
operation and nursing to which he has recently sub¬ 
mitted have been beneficial, and that a speedy return to 
health is now only a matter of time. 
The first meeting of the new Salford club, Hampton 
Court Angling Society, was held on the 2nd inst. The 
first roll consists of sixteen members, to which five more 
will be added next meeting night. The following is the 
list of first officers who will also form the committee of 
management; President, Mr. AV. Maxwell; vice-presi¬ 
dent, Mr. C. Bowker; treasurer, Mr. J. Hampton; 
secretary, Mr. J. Buckley. 
Nothing can be added to the reports of the last few 
weeks as to active operations. The only basket of fish 
at all worth recording was that of Messrs. Allsop and 
Timpib twenty grayling in one day on the Derwent. 
The Townshend’s Arms United Angling Society has 
noted its members to the effect that the anniversary is 
