114 
THE EISHING GAZETTE 
[Februaiit 18, 1893 
avidity with which vegetable food is consumed. 
It is not intended to assert that the otter does 
not relish a salmon cutlet or toothsome trout; 
l)ut that he is the wanton destroyer of fish to the 
extent often imputed to him, those best accjuainted 
with his habits firmly deny. Cunning, and quick 
in his actions as the otter may be, a salmon is 
more so and this fact alone should weigh in the 
otter’s favour, when charges are made about the 
depopulation of our fishing streams. It is more 
likely that he acts the part of a river scavenger, 
destroying, as a rule, only such fish as are 
diseased, and which from their weakness are 
unable to escape his clutches. 
In this connection we may refer to the war 
that has been waged for years by ignorant 
gamekeepers on our carnivorous birds and ani¬ 
mals—the hawks and owls, the stoats and weasles 
—and the increase of diseases amongst grouse 
and other birds, as well as the pestilences of 
voles, ttc., that have recently occurred. By the 
destruction of the natural enemies of disease and 
vermin, the “ balance of nature ” is destroyed, 
and man finds, too late, that in protecting what 
Ite wished to preserve, he has ojiened the door to 
ailments for which, when need arises, he knows no 
remedy. So may it be with our rivers should the 
time unfortunately ever come when our friend 
the otter finds no place in his natural element; 
when infected fish are allowed to remain and con¬ 
taminate miles of river, and the foul fiend Pollu¬ 
tion works hand in hand with mistaken Protection 
to decimate our streams of their inhabitants. 
A popular fallacy in regard to the otter is, that 
when he has succeeded in capturing a fish he eats 
only the fiesh from the shoulders, and leaves the 
remainder to rot by the river bank. We have 
sat for hours at a stretch by the side of a pond in 
which captive otters were confined, and never 
once noticed this peculiarity. As a fact, the gills 
of a fish are invariably the first part attacked, the 
body being held by the fore-paws miich as a dog 
secures a bone. Gnawing from side to side alter¬ 
nately, the body is eaten downward to the vent, 
preference—if preference be shown—being given 
to the belly of the fish, and not to the firmer 
fiesh of the shoulders and back. This is consistent 
with the otter’s mode of securing his prize, at any 
rate when the latter is in deep water, as the 
following illustration will prove. An otter kept 
in confinement was noticed to be asleep in his 
lair adjoining a large tank in which he spent most 
of his time. A number of live roach were quietly 
introduced into the water, and on his ottership 
awakening, he immediately “ smelled a rat,” or 
rather a fish. Taking a silent header into the 
water, he dived beneath a fish, and instantly 
secured it from below, seizing it by the 
belly, and devouring it in the manner above 
described. Having had his fill, the otter 
returned to the tank on mischief bent. He 
seemed to exercise the magnetic power attri¬ 
buted to snakes and certain animals over their 
prey, for the fish on his approach lay helpless and 
turned upon their backs on the water, where the 
otter toyed with them, rolling the fish over and 
over, and tossing them from paw' to paw, as a cat 
does a mouse. Tiring at length with his recrea¬ 
tion, he turned his attention to other matters, and 
the paralysed fish regained their natural condition, 
apparently none the worse for their adventure. 
THE WORCESTERSHIRE AVON. 
By H. H. S. 
{Continued from page bfi.) 
CHFB FISHING. 
Chi B abound in the Avon, and good specimens 
are freciuently taken. A Pershore friend of mine 
invariably captures large rjuantities every sum¬ 
mer, with the assistance of a trout-rod and a 
May-fly. Pershore weir-pit is full of chub in the 
summer months, but the water is, I believe, 
private; the best places to find them nearer 
Kvesham, are from Hampton Perry to within 
three hundred yards of the Evesham workhouse ; 
from the railway bridges to Abbey Manor, the 
residence of Mr. E.'G. Budge (these stretches are 
both below Evesham weir), and in most of the 
water from the upper railway bridge to Olfenham 
])oat, especially that near the I’arks Farm (this 
water is ahoi'e the weir). The last-mentioned 
stretch is also splendid water for pike and perch. 
My friend S., to whom I have previously referred, 
says, “ There are plenty of chub in the river which 
would scale Hb., but I do not believe that they 
ever grow much larger in the Avon, I never 
heard of one 51b., and I reckon 31b. for a roach, 
41b. for a perch, and Ipb. for a chub, to be the 
maximum weights for this river.” 
His favourite mode of chub fishing was with an 
artificial chrysalis. He tied it himself, and used 
it as an artificial fly. I hope to get S. to tie one 
for me to forward with this paper to the Editor 
of the Fishing Gazette; lemon and orange- 
coloured wools, black thread, and two tiny bits of 
straw appear to be its component parts. 
S. was extraordinarily successful with this 
bait, he tells me, so I hope that an acquaintance 
with it may prove of use to my brother anglers. 
On one occasion an acquaintance of his, salmon 
fishing in Ireland (in the Shannon, I believe), 
hooked and killed a pike on this same chrysalis, 
of such abnormal dimensions that I refrain from 
stating his reputed weight. The baits for chub 
are usually the same all England over, so I will 
only further mention to say that, sometimes, 
when all else fails to tempt him, a live minnow 
will lure a large chub to his destruction. 
ROACH AND DACE. 
The Avon roach, during the last two or three 
years, have not fed satisfactorily. Good baskets, 
it is true, are occasionally made, but the general 
sport has not been such as the great number of 
roach which the river holds, would lead one to 
expect. Jubilee year was the last good season, 
to the best of S.’s recollection, and then he and 
others made excellent baskets, the roach averaging 
:]lb. 
S., so he tells me, would often catch 12lb. an 
hour for several hours together, and others had 
equally good luck. 
The best roach I can hear of is one of 31b. loz. 
This grand specimen was, however, netted at 
Parson’s Ford, about two miles above Evesham. 
S., many years ago, caught a roach 21b. lloz. on 
single horsehair, stewed wheat being the bait 
used. He recommends the following baits for 
Avon roach : In summer, stewed wheat or malt; 
in autumn, malt; in winter, the small red 
worm. This worm may be readily found under¬ 
neath cowdung which has lain undisturbed for 
some time in the meadows. Autumn is the best 
season to procure it. S. prefers this worm to the 
brandling, and prefers either to the tail end of 
a lob. “ Roach in the Avon,” says he, “ never do 
so well on bits as on a whole worm.” 
The whole river contains plenty of roach, and a 
knowledge of the depth of water frequented by 
them at the different seasons is all that is neces¬ 
sary to enable the angler to find them. 
There are some very artful old roach—very 
Gladstones among roach—opposite the Workman 
Pleasure Grounds, just below Evesham Bridge. 
It is not permissibie to fish from these grounds, 
so the roach have to be attempted from a boat. 
They are well worth a trial, as some of them 
have been there for years and are absolute 
whoppers; but there, for the present at least, 
they seem likely to remain. 
Dace are plentiful, and rise freely to the ily at 
the proper season; they seem to run smaller than 
they did some years ago, and a (ioz. dace is, now¬ 
adays, a good specimen. 
BREAM. 
Bream do not seem to find much favour amongst 
the local anglers, nevertheless, they are well worth 
going after, and S. says : “ The bream are, to my 
mind, increasing so in number, that they are gradu¬ 
ally coming from the deeps into the shallower 
parts of the river, and when a good number have 
been caught by the roach fishers we shall find 
people trying for them once more. I used to do 
a good bit of bream fishing onee, but I lent my 
tackle to a young fellow who forgot to bring it 
back, and I have left the bream alone since then. 
I never used to weigh my bream, but I should 
think my best would be between 61b. and 7lb. 
however, he was about as big as a pair of bellows, 
and very near as ugly! The best time of year, 
sir ? Well! I should say that when apples are 
as big as cob-nuts is about the best season if the 
we.ather suits.” 
The best bream I have heard of weighed 10]lb.,, 
and was caught at Fladbury, about six miles (by 
river) below Evesham. Bream will be found 
from the railway bridges at Evesham down to 
Chadburv weir, in the deep near Hampton i erry, 
and in the reach of deep water above Evesham 
weir ; almost all the water between Chadbury and 
Fladbury holds bream in quantities. 
# # * * * * ■ 
Evesham boasts a Fish Preservation Society, of 
w’hich I append the principal 
Rules. 
Permission to fish in the society’s water is 
granted to holders of one shilling and half-crown 
tickets, and day tickets, on the following terms: 
The half-crown annual, or sixpenny day ticket, 
allows the holder to angle with one or more rods, 
and to troll. 
The shilling annual, or threepenny day ticket, 
allows angling with one rod only, but does not 
entitle the holder to troll, nor to fish with live bait. 
Holders of these tickets (which may be obtained 
from Mr. Whitford, Bridge-street), may fish that 
portion of the society’s water which extends from 
Norton Brook* to the Notice Board above Chad¬ 
bury Weir, or from Fladbury Weir as far above 
Fladbury Railway Bridge as the commencement 
of Mrs. Faulkner’s water. 
The fishing in the water rented from Mrs. 
Faulkner (below Chadbury Mill), is reserved for 
members of the society; the subscription is ten 
shillings per anniim. 
Any person wishing to become a member must 
make application to the secretary, who will submit 
his name to the committee. 
The use of trimmers, side-lines, nets, lime, Ac , 
is strictly prohibited. 
It is also forbidden to trail from boats, or to 
sell any' fish taken from the society’s water. 
*■*«=*** 
Now, although the society is undoubtedly 
doing some good work, yet I make bold to saj' 
that the absence of any rule with regard to size¬ 
able and unsizeable fish, must detract from its 
usefulness in no small measure. 
The rule with regard to trailing was openly 
disregarded, to my certain knowledge, throughout 
last summer and autumn, and I am very much 
mistaken if an official, who should know better, 
was not seen indulging in that unsportsmanlike 
practice on more than one occasion. 
If, in the second rule, for the word troll, “ spin ” 
were substituted, it would, to my mind, be an im¬ 
provement, especially if, in addition, trolling were 
absolutely forbidden; for, I take it, the term 
“trolling” implies the use of the dead gorge, 
which most sportsmen will join me in condemning. 
But, perhaps, the framer of the society’s rules 
understood “ trolling ” and “ spinning ” to be 
synonymous terms. It is quite possible. 
Evesham is about three hours from Paddington, 
fare, 9s. fid. third class, and it is a charming 
place indeed in which to spend a holiday. It is 
one of the great gardening centres of England, 
excellent boating is to be had, there is a fairly 
good rowing club, and town cricket and football 
clubs. There are comfortable hotels, and lodgings 
are to be obtained. One word in conclusion ; the 
river Avon being sluggish it clears very slowly 
after a flush, and inquiry as to the height and 
colour of the water should therefore be made by 
intending anglers before they complete their 
arrangements. 
Pike-baits can be obtained from Bennett, the 
water-bailiff, or, usually, from Spragg, the boat- 
builder in Bengeworth (a part of Evesham). The 
latter also lets boats at most reasonable charges. 
Any further information which intending 
visitors may happen to require, I shall be most 
happy to supply if it is in my power to do so. 
FROM 
THE “NOCTES AMBROSIAN.F.” 
Dear Sib, —Some of your readers may not be 
acquainted with the writings of Christopher 
North. The following extract from the “ Noctes 
Ambrosianm,” on the long-bow propensities of the 
anglers of his day, beats the record, and takes the 
kettle Yours, &c.. Silver Doctor. 
A BIG HAUL AND A BIG FISH. 
SiiEPHERp : “ Tell me, Mr. North, what for ye 
didna come out to Innerleithen and fish for 
the silver medal of St. Ronan’s Border Club F 
I’m thinkin’ ye was feared.” 
North : “ I have won so many medals, James, 
* About three miles above Kvesham, 
