February 18, 1893] 
THE FISHING GAZETTE 
111 
“ ’Tia not to bo uneftioned but that it is an art, and 
an art worth your learning : the (lueftion will rather be 
whether you be capable of learning it? For he that 
learns it, muft not onely bring an enquiring, fearching 
and difcerning wit, but he muft bring alfo that 'patience 
you talk of, and a love and propenfity to the art itfelf : 
birt having once got and practifed it, then doubt not but 
the art will (both for the pleafure and profit of it) prove 
like rertue, a ren'nrd to itfelf.”- —Izaak Walton. 
I PROMISED last week to make some inquiries 
respecting the costs and procedure involved in 
opposing the Thames Fishery Bye-laws before 
the Privy Council. I hope that the necessity for 
such opposition will not arise. I am informed 
that the proper course is merely to address a 
petition to the “ Queen's Most Excellent Majesty 
in Council,” and send it, or deliver it, to the^ 
clerk of the Privy Council, Whitehall. The 
office is just beyond the Horse Guards. I further 
understand that there are no fees pa 3 -able to the 
Privy Council Office, so the opposition would 
seem a simple matter. The petition should, of 
course, contain the grounds for the objection 
made to any of the bye-laws, and should be 
signed by the petitioners. 
I HOPE, as I have said, that there will be no 
occasion for a petition, but if the occasion does 
arise I would impress upon Thames anglers the 
necessity for combined action. It would be 
worse than useless for one society of anglers to 
oppose one thing and another society another. 
Union is force. Some day there will be one large 
anglers’ association for the South of England. 
The voice of such an association could make 
itself heard with some effect. At present the 
various clubs and associations are certain to 
differ over unimportant matters of detail, and 
those in authority of course take the advantage 
of such small differences of opinion to do nothing. 
One of the up-river associations is now holding 
aloof from a combination of the societies which 
has to a certain extent been arranged. I mean a 
combination for consultation and action in times 
when the welfare of the fisheries are threatened. 
One society by itself has no influence with the 
conservators or anj’one else. Combined action is 
absolutely necessary to effect anything nowa¬ 
days. _ 
Mr. T. R. Sachs kindly sends me a copy of his 
“ Foreign Reminiscences of an Old Angler,” a 
pamphlet which was recently published by the 
Piscatorial Society. It is most interesting read¬ 
ing. The first few pages might have come out of 
a work by Defoe. There are stories of pike, 
perch, giant wels {Silnrus gJanis), the taking of 
a Rhine salmon below the Palis of Schaff hausen, 
and a fire rise taken out of a German Customs 
House officer by means of a tin of gentles. Mr. 
Sachs thinks that the Danube salmon, or huchen 
(Salmo Imcho), would thrive in the Thames or 
some of its larger tributaries. The small fish 
are taken with rough flies, the larger ones with 
spinning baits. They are fresh-water fish, 
spawning in March, are not so destructive as, 
and are better eating than pike. There is a 
splendid specimen of this fish in the Fly-Fishers’ 
Club. It is worth becoming a member to sit in 
the same room with it. 
It is to be hoped that whatever is decided upon 
respecting the supply of water for London, the 
Thames, Lee, and other rivers will be left un¬ 
touched. A commission which inquired into the 
subject in 1869, reported that the immense area 
of chalk to the east and south of London con¬ 
tained enormous quantities of pure water. A 
commission which sat a few years later confirmed 
this report. Water from the chalk is the purest 
that can be obtained. I remember years ago 
seeing the report of an analyst on the water 
taken from wells sunk by the Caterham Water 
Works Company, among the Surrey Hills. The 
water was found to be purer than any in England, 
with the exception of that coming from Loch 
Katrine, or the Caterham water was equal to that 
water—I forget which. The many diseases which 
are continued by bad water, would almost cease 
to be known in London and the suburbs if the 
drinking water was taken from the chalk. But 
I need hardly tell anglers that many rivers, not 
excepting the Thames and its tributaries, are fed 
in a great measure from springs rising out of 
the chalk. Care would have to he taken that the 
districts where such river-feeding springs rose, 
were not tapped for the London supply. 
So.ME time ago Mr. James Merries contributed 
a series of valuable articles on the Solway Firth 
and its salmon fishery laws to the columns of 
the Dumfries and Galloway Courier <md Herald, 
These have now been reprinted, along with a 
capital map of the Firth and the surrounding 
country on the liberal scale, or two inches to the 
mile, and there is a table of contents, exhaustive, 
but hardly taking the place of the always neces¬ 
sary index. One side of the Firth the fishing is 
governed by English laws, on the other by Scotch 
laws. The result is confusion. This book will 
pave the way for legislation which is sorely 
needed. 
The sculpture of fish was well understood by 
the ancient Egyptians. In the great temple 
Queen Hatesu built at Deir-el-Bahari, opposite 
Thebes, are some marvellous bas-reliefs, in which 
are shown many of the fish found in the Red Sea 
at the present day. At least, persons acquainted 
with those fishes (I am not) say that the carvings 
are so true to nature as to be identified without 
difficulty. The sole is actually given one eye 
larger than the other. 
Among the many protests which have reached 
the Thames Conservators respecting the bye-laws 
is a strongly worded one from the netsmen of the 
estuary, who, among other things, object to be 
restricted from slaying immature soles. Where 
no riparian influence comes in the conservators 
seem anxious to do what they can to preserve fish. 
It is almost comical to find them altering the 
mesh of nets in the estuary in favour of the fish, 
while they are making it smaller in the upper 
river to please people who really care nothing 
about the condition of the fisheries. Templar. 
CotrtsponUcncE 
[TFe do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions 
expressed by our Correspondents.'] 
“ One of the char-ms of angling is that it presents an 
endless field for argument, speculation, and experi¬ 
ment.” —T. E. Pritt. 
CRAYFISHING. 
Sir,—M r. F. C. White, of Hammersmith, took 
time by the forelock when he inquired if there 
was any crayfishing to be got within twenty 
miles of London. That is a rather limited area. 
People rarely value anything sufficiently until 
they have lost it. Many arc anxious, however, to 
restore these interesting crustaceans to the rivers 
and streams of the south of England. If the 
above gentleman advertised in the Fishing 
Gazette, about next August, he might perhaps be 
accommodated, at a price ; but hardly so near 
London as twenty miles. If Mr. White should 
wish to know further, or, at least, hoio to catch 
the crayfish in nets at night, in a beautiful time 
of year, he should refer to the Fishing Gazette of 
last August.—I am, sir, your old scribe, 
Rusticds. 
IS IT TRUE.3 
Sir, —It has been said that the riparians in 
the Thames Valley have secured from the Hon. 
Board of Conservators the right to net or drag 
the water. Each “riparian” claims to have a 
right of fishing. If such be the fact, the said 
landowners and coal-shed people will be simply 
reaping what others have sown and preserved. 
A strange kind of morality this. Old Hand. 
POSITION OP THE REEL ON THE ROD. 
Dear Sir, —This subject has always been a pet 
“ fad ” of mine; I read with much pleasure the 
remarks under “Notes and Queries” in your 
issue of the 4th inst. 
I am a right-handed man, but for some years 
have used my winch under the rod with handles 
to the left; and always wind with the left hand. 
I find this system invaluable for the following 
reasons;—> 
1st. The rod is grasped by the right hand. 
■2nd. The right hand controls the rod naturally, 
while the left does not. 
3rd. The right hand instinctively tells to a 
nicety the strain exerted, as it is accustomed to 
the weight, throwing the bait, &c. 
4th. The rod never changes hands when a fish 
is hooked; there is no flurry at the 'niost critical 
time, viz., the first rush of a heavy fish. 
5th. The fingers of the left hand continuall}' 
regulate the winch, and there is no slack line. 
These remarks apply chiefly to Thames trout- 
ing; but I have found the same system of 
handling a winch equally useful in roach fishing, 
long corking, ledgering, Ac. Many men toll me 
they cannot wind fast with the left hand ; this is 
simply a matter of habit, and can be practised in 
a room with just the butt and winch. I found it 
awkward at first, but could soon wind as fast 
with my left hand as with my right, and want 
other anglers to try it; those who will take the 
trouble to do so will soon appreciate the differ¬ 
ence, it is simply wonderful how the pleasure of 
playing a fish is increased, you feel ready for anj' 
sudden emergency and confident of the result. 
Every man has his own style of fishing, but I am 
sure that they who use the left hand for the 
winch will heartily endorse my remarks as to the 
efficacy of the plan.—Faithfully yours, 
Weybridge. Ciiarle.s H. Wiieeley. 
A DISCLAIMER. 
Sir, —The letter published in your “Corre¬ 
spondence ” columns on Feb. 4, headed “ A 
Disclaimer,” and signed by R. Collins, was prac¬ 
tically a denial of Collins’ own words, inasmuch 
as the report of his basket of six jack weighing 
13jlb. was given by himself to the river-keeper 
employed by the Henley and District Fisheries 
Preservation Association, who supplies me with 
weekly details of sport had by local and visiting 
anglers—many of the takes come under my per¬ 
sonal notice. 
It would not be to my interest, in the smallest 
degree, to send incorrect reports to your “ News 
from Rivers” columns. My only object in sup¬ 
plying notes are : (1) To attract the attention of 
anglers to the well-stocked condition of the 
Henley and District waters, and assist in securing 
their patronage to the local professional fisher¬ 
men, who all know the waters, and thoroughly 
understand their work. 
(2) My personal love of the sport is an induce¬ 
ment to assist, so far as I am able, in its 
advancement. 
I consider 22 or 24 inches quite low enough for 
the retainable size of a Thames pike; and the 
adoption of either measurement would certainly 
render it impossible, except with very poor fish, 
to make a basket of “ six jack weighing ]3flb.”— 
Yours obediently, A. E. Hobbs. 
FISHING -ON THE CAM. 
Sir, —Can any of your readers inform me if 
there is any Sunday fishing to be had on the Cam 
free or bj’ payment?—Yours truly, 
Cyrrinus Leuciscus. 
THE HENSHALL Y"AN ANTWERP REEL. 
Sir, —Will you please state in next issue of 
Fishing Gazette, if the reel, “ Henshall Van 
Antwerp,” can be obtained in this country, and 
oblige?—Yours truly. 3. C. 
Matlock. 
[It is not to be had in this country, but could 
be obtained, doubtless, from Mr. Chubb, fishing 
tackle maker. Post Mills, Vermont, U.S.A.— Ed.] 
TROUT PISHING IN TRIBUTARIES OF 
THE RHINE. 
Sir, —Can any of your readers inform me wlere 
good trout fishing (fly) is to be obtained in the 
tributaries of the Rhine between, say, Cologne 
and Coblentz, preferably nearer Cologne ? 
YMrtex. 
[When we were in Germany in 1866, we could 
find no decent trout fishing in any of the tribu¬ 
taries of the Rhine below Mayence ; the fish were 
few and far between. We believe that things 
have improved since then, but not much. We 
hope Herr Max v. d. Borne, the great German 
fishing authority, will reply to this query.— Ed ] 
