Febiiuart 18, 1893] 
THE PISHING GAZETTE 
109 
We hear from our Tay correspondent that: “I 
have learned of no great takes of fish, either 
large or small, lately ; the river towards the end 
of last week was so greatly flooded that the fish¬ 
ing had to he given up on several of the best 
beats. As I write it is back to good fishing ply, 
and now some good sport it is expected will soon 
be got again. There has been a renewed fall of 
snow which, though slieht, will keep the river 
running in goodish high state for some days. 
You may believe me when I say this ; I guarantee 
I am not throwing the hammer. The nets are in 
full swing now for the season, and more’s the 
pity there is such a lot of them so far up. Since 
the opening they have been fairly successful, and 
but for the swollen state of the river would have 
done great execution. Anyway, some of them 
have done exceptionally well. Mr. Dunlop, of 
Sydney, who fished the llirnam Hotel water did 
splendidly with two Dee flies, the Dunt and the 
ffordon. Of nine fine fish which he landed eight 
fell to these two flies—one to the Gordon and 
seven to the Dunt.” 
Phoji our Brora correspondent we hear that the 
Brora and Blackwater, Sutherlandshire, did not, 
in sport to the rod, come up to expectation on the 
opening day. The Gordonbush, rod fished by 
Mr. Tod, was blank, but the Balnacoil, rod fished 
by Mr. John MacIntyre for Mr. Hall, had one 
nice fish, 101b. Kelts were exceedingly plentiful 
and troublesome. More might have been done 
but the nver was in spate. Frost came on at 
night which will grip it in if it holds. Next week 
good sport may be looked for if the volume does 
not fall too low. 
Tins, from the Scotsman, shows as I indicated 
last week, that the members of the Fishery Board 
for Scotland are not brethren such as dwell 
together in unity :—At a meeting yesterday of the 
Fishery Board for Scotland, a letter was read 
from Mr. Majoribanks, M.P., enclosing a 
memorial from fishermen and others on the Ber¬ 
wickshire coast, calling attention to the injuries 
they received from the practice of beam trawling, 
asking the board to consider their grievances, 
•and requesting that the board would cause an 
iriquiry to be made into the state of the case. Mr. 
Fsslemont (chairman) submitted to the meeting 
!i reply which he proposed should be sent to Mr. 
Majoribanks, virtually refusing the recpiest of the 
fishermen. An amendment was submitted in 
favour of the inquiry, but the members of the 
briard were e(|ual!y divided on the subject, and 
Mr. Esslemont insisted upon giving a casting 
vote in favour of his own reply, despite opposition 
to such a course. 
Ox none of the Caithness and Sutherland 
spring salmon rivers, whose rod season com¬ 
menced over a month ago, have sportsmen yet 
met with any great success. Indeed on them, 
pretty much all round, sport has proved inferior 
to what it usually is during the first month. 
It would seem that, as almost everywhere else, 
fish are not forward in such strength as generally 
they are by this time of the year. 
The salmon netting opened on the Ness on 
Saturday last when some splendid fish were got, 
although the take, as a whole, was not very 
gratifying. With the heavy running waters 
which had prevailed for a considerable time 
before, almost the whole of the great head of 
fish that previously had run in from the sea, got 
clear away up and into Loch Ness, wh<^reon the 
rod-fishing commenced with a number of anglers 
drawing blood, Mr. Annan, of Bridge of Allan, 
having two beauties to his own rod the first day. 
In lochs Lubnaigand Vennachar, of the central 
Highlands, a few salmon of good weights have 
been caught during the week. Loch Tay has 
continued to fish pretty well. Lochs Naver and 
Ness are also now giving fish. 
The net fishing for salmon on the great bulk of 
the early Scottish rivers was opened for the 
reason on Saturday last. Prospects were held to 
be good, and although the catch was not any¬ 
where very gratifying, it was not so low as to be 
dispiriting. From various centres it was indi¬ 
cated that prices for the first fish kept to a high 
level. Practically, all the fish that had entered 
the Dee got clear up river, but in the case of the 
Spey it is believed that almost every one was 
netted in the Duke’s ten or a dozen miles of net¬ 
ting water. The Tay netting resulted best of all 
in respect of the river’s reputation for early 
salmon ; the results being not far behind those of 
last year, which were reckoned phenomenally 
good. Out of Don and Deveron, hundreds of fish 
were taken by the nets working below the dykes, 
which not a single fish can pass, or is allowed to 
pass, during the spring months. 
At the same time rod fishing commenced on all 
the principle rivers from the Dee north to the 
Brora inclusive. Generally speaking, the weather 
did not look bad, and the water was all right. 
Pew fish, however, fell to the rod—on some of 
the important and larger rivers not a single one. 
Before Saturday had expired a very cold snap 
came on, to be followed several dajs after by a 
violent gale. In consequence, even where they 
were present in good strength, the fish were 
found to be dour to rise, as they always are when 
a storm is brooding. The Dee, as usual, opened 
best of the lot, but, even for it, the opening was 
a failure, only the poor takes of three fish to one 
rod and five to another rod being the best re¬ 
corded on it on Saturday. 
Since the fishing opened there has been fillings 
and fallings of the water of most rivers, and, 
owing to the low temperature, flies of large size 
for the season have been required. On the Dee 
and the Spey splashing with the gudgeon, the 
Phantom, and the minnow has been going on, but 
so far with no greater success than has been 
achieved by using the fly. 
On the two rivers on which by far the most fish 
have been got as yet, namel}^ Tay and Dee, the 
best killing flies are reported as having been— 
Nicholson, Tay Black Dog, Jock Scott, for Tiiy ; 
and Dunt, Whitewing, Gordon, and Ackroid for 
Dee. 
A LOT of damage was done to the sea salmon 
nets by the gale of Monday night and Tuesday on 
the east coast of Scotland. The Fishery Board 
have had another terribly stormy meeting in 
Edinburgh. Their proceedings have kept well in 
touch with the nature of the weather for the past 
few days. 
FISHERIES AND SHOOTING 
EXHIBITION. 
The Directors of the Royal Aquarium have 
arranged to follow up their highly successful 
Yachting Exhibition with a display of all matters 
connected with fishing and shooting. It will be 
remembered that last year a most interesting 
piscatorial exhibition was held at the Aquarium, 
which attracted considerable attention amongst 
anglers. It is intended this year to very mate¬ 
rially extend the scope of this year’s displav and 
to include not only sea-fishing, but also illus¬ 
trations of artificial fish-rearing and farming; 
together with this, space will be found for the 
companion sport of shooting. The names of a 
few of the intending exhibitors will be found 
in our advertising columns, and a glance 
at these will show that so far as quality 
is concerned there can be no doubt as to 
the excellence of the display. We also under¬ 
stand that Mr. Hoarder, of Plymouth, will make 
a big show, and it cannot be doubted that his ex¬ 
ample will be followed by our other deep sea 
fishing tackle makers. We have received a com¬ 
munication from the Royal Aquarium directors 
to the effect that all things of interest, such as 
stuffed fish, trophies, models of harbours, life¬ 
boats, life-saving apparatus, &c., will be welcomed. 
If the fishing and shooting people will only re¬ 
spond in the same way that the yachtsmen have 
done, it may be hoped that the Fisheries of 1893 
will be equal, if not better, than the display of 
yachts, &c., which is attracting such crowds daily 
to the Aquarium. We should strongly recommend 
our readers not to delay, but to secure their 
spaces at once. 
Lord Craven’s Marriage. —The contemplated 
marriage of Lord Craven with the daughter of 
Mr. Bradley Martin, a wealthy citizen of the 
United States, but resident in Scotland, recalls 
some romantic associations anent the Craven 
family. The Dowager Lady Craven of fifty-five 
years and less ago, was, in early life, a noted 
actress; and the tradition in and around Newbury 
in the old coaching days was, rightly or otherwise, 
to the effect that that estimable lady told Lord 
Craven that the way to her bedchamber was 
through the church porch. Her daughter married 
Sir Frederick Johnstone, Bart, but that gentle¬ 
man was, unfortunately, killed while riding in a 
steeplechase in Ireland, even before Lady John¬ 
stone was confined of twins—the present Sir 
Frederick Johnstone, Bart, and his brother, Mr. 
Johnstone. Probably the earliest angling trips 
of the young boys were in the Hamstead Marshall 
and Enborne fisheries. Their grandmother, the 
Dowager-Countess Craven, already alluded to, 
lived at Hamstead Marshall for years, and obtained 
from Newbury most all the new toys with which 
to amuse her young grandsons. Benham House 
is associated with the name of a Lidy Craven who 
became Margravine of Auspach. The mention of 
Fulwar Craven recalls to the mind of the writer 
when that gentleman of the old school would 
come out of Forster’s Chequers’ Hotel, at Speen- 
hamland, to see the “Beaufort” fast four-horse 
coach rattle up for a twenty minutes’ snack (and 
then go off, as handsome as could anywhere else 
be seen), going off in a swinging trot towards 
Reading railway station, and return along the 
famous macadamised road to Bath. There wei’e 
Two Macs in those days—MacAdam and Mac¬ 
intosh. Dressed in a plum-coloured coat, some¬ 
thing like a shooting jacket, with an open vest, 
showing plenty of “front” beneath the red silk 
neckerchief, tied loosely around his neck, his 
black whiskers cut mutton-chop shape, and a 
biggish collar, and drab “small clothes,” Fulwar 
Craven was a fret^uent visitor to Newbury and 
neighbeurheod, in days when the Ashdown hares 
tried the stamina of the fastest greyhounds, and 
when at svivan Russley, with its large rookeiy, 
lived old IMr. John Williams. That famous Greek 
scholar. Dr. Meyrick, kept a school for gentle¬ 
men’s sons at Ramsbury, and his son, the 
Rev. Frederick Meyrick, persistently fly-fished 
stretches of the Lambourne many years ago. The 
Lords of Craven have always been identified with 
Newbury in past days ; and to show the hold 
which coaching has had upon some, who, in their 
“ Curley” days, handled the “ribbons” for a few 
stages, it might be mentioned that His Grace the 
Duke of Beaufort rode on horseback a goodish 
distance eastward along the old Road, and 
turned his horse’s head towards Pangbourno, 
where his grace dismounted.—W. F. 
The Power op Modern Anglers. —The Thames 
Conservancy, in promptly withdrawing the hated 
powers proposed to be given to the riparians, 
have bowed to public opinion as expressed in the 
chief angling journals. It really reads like a 
huge joke of some wag, determined to stir up 
strife, when a special license was claimed by the 
riparian proprietors to net fish out of the Thames 
ad. lib., as well as to set night lines ostensibly 
for catching eels, when withy traps are far more 
efficient for that purpose. Still, the all-round 
indignation which the proposed powers to the 
owners of land on either side of the river has 
evoked will have done marked good, because no 
more attempts to curtail or to interfere with the 
reasonable claims of the angling associations and 
club men, and even humble bank anglers, will be 
attempted in the direction named. The sporting 
riparian should, indeed, feel grateful that he is 
enabled to angle for trout especially in his 
stretch, which splendid fish had been preserved, 
if not actually placed in the Thames for himself 
or any fair angler to attempt to capture in the 
season in fair sportsmanlike manner. The 
wonder is that the majority of the conservancy 
ever seriously put forth such claims, which 
carried their own condemnation. Any man who, 
in these days, covets a Thames trout other than 
by rod and line and no lobworm on his hook, 
will have received a salutary check, including the 
possible wag who ridiculed the action of sport- 
loving anglers, who, he perhaps said— 
When they caught a trout in very fine fettle. 
Clapped into a case what was meant for the kettle. 
Rusticus. 
