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SUPPLEMENT TO THE PISHING GAZETTE 
[Eebruary 18, 1893 
FROM MONTGOMERYSHIRE, 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
The often-heard and as often adjonrned and undecided 
case of as to who has the right of fishing in the Lake 
Vyrnwy was decided on Tuesday week, in a divisional 
court of the Queen’s Bench Division—a report of which 
is given in another column. 
It is not yet known if the above decision will be 
appealed against; but was—as is said — the right of 
fishing in the Vyrnwy, and also in the lake itself, 
included in the agreement entered into between the 
Severn Fishery Board and the Liverpool Corporation!' 
If this is so, further litigation would be useless, but it 
is strange that the chairman and the Severn Fishery 
Board should have been caught napping, as it now 
appears they must have been, when the agreement was 
entered into, as there cannot be the shadow of a doubt 
that the Vyrnwy was a tributary of the Severn, and it 
was the bounden duty of the conservators to see that it 
should have remained so. Another curious complication 
has arisen since the decision of the judges became 
known. Some people argue that the whole of the 
Vyrnwj' has ceased to be a tributary of the Severn, and 
that henceforth it will not be necessary to take oxit a 
licence to fish in any part of it, but this is not the case, 
as what the Severn Fishery Board have lost is the 
control of that part of the Vyrnwy above the dam of 
LakeVjrnwy. - 
FROM NORFOLK. 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
Scores of pike have fallen to the rods of angling 
gentlemen in this locality during the past week. 
Nothing unusually heavy, but some very good fair fish 
have been taken, the heaviest fish of the week being one 
of 171b., caught in private water, near Norwich. Several 
bags of varying quantities and weights have been made, 
but the most remarkable is one of twenty-eight fish, 
weighing upwards of Hist., taken in one day by two 
rods with live bait. The fish ranged from (ilb. to 11.1b. 
apiece. 
A friend of mine took a nice basket of roach on Satur¬ 
day. at Earlham, on the Yare. The fish, just a score of 
them, ranged from jlb. upwards. 
The waters of the district are in good order. 
A meeting of the committee of the Yare and Bure 
Preservation Society was held on Friday, when it was 
announced that Sir Edward Birkbeck had accepted the 
presidency of the society for the ensuing year, and the 
annual meeting was fixed for the evening of Feb. 27, at 
the Bell Hotel, Norwich.—A. J. Eudd. 
FROM NOTTINGHAM. 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
Ash IVednesday was by far the most enjoyable day^ 
anglers in our district have experienced during the past 
fortnight. Throughout last week, and on Monday and 
Tuesday in the present, the wind blew with unaccus¬ 
tomed fury, and completely upset all chances of the 
enjoyment of even decent sport. The close season is 
rapidly drawing on, and fishermen are naturally anxious 
that in the remaining days placed at their disposal they 
may, at least, secure a few of Fortune’s favours, so far 
as genial weather is concerned. Heavy showers of rain 
and sleet have, of late, followed each other in rapid 
succession, and at the period of writing on Wednesday 
night the river was running in very strong volume, and 
was thickly charged with colour. 
The home lengths—such as Clifton and Wilford—have 
met with the most patronage, and by the exercise of 
patience and skill a few c’aoioo lots of roach have been 
obtained. One day last week, Mr. T. Castles excelled 
with four or five bream, besides roach, aud in Clifton- 
grove, after the wind had abated somewhat, Mr. J. Boyd 
succeeded in bagging a quartette of " Y'e’r bellows to 
mend. ’ Bream are now in superb condition, but they 
only seem to feed by fits and starts. Always a very 
timid fish, they require considerable catching, even in a 
thick water. For our own part we would as soon recom¬ 
mend for their capture, the use of the plummet as the 
float. There is less oscillation of the line and bait, and 
every' novice knows that the fish do not often accept it 
when it is swimming. It must be stationary to tickle 
their palate. Of course, there are exceptions, and we 
only recommend the substitution of the plummet for the 
float as an experiment, which we have often found to 
answer admirably during the winter months. 
A few anglers have patronised the private reaches at 
Colwick and Holme Pierrepont, and nearly all the fish 
taken have consisted of roach. 
-Yt Weston. Shardlow, Sawley. Trent Lock, and 
Beeston, a line has scarcely been wetted for the past ten 
days, and beyond the capture of sundry roach at Barton, 
there is nothing of passing note to enlarge upon. 
Chubbing is out of the question, and no true sports¬ 
man would think of troubling the backwaters for pike 
after the incoming of February. 
In the matter of gostip there has been considerable 
conversation as to the acquirement, by the Nottin'^ham 
Wellington Angling Association, of the Shardlow 
Fishery, as already reported in the columns of the 
Gazette. Anglers of position aud influence in the town 
are agreed that the society has done a wonderfully good 
stroke of business in securing the yearly tenancy of the 
waters : whilst others, w'ho must be jealous of the excel¬ 
lent and straightforward lines on which the affairs of 
the society are conducted, are rubbing hands with each 
other on the score that the committee have not obtained 
it for nothing. To these malcontents, who would not be 
admitted into the club at any price, we would say the 
society did not expect to get the water for nil. In the 
words of the president, ’ The club is a club for ■-‘ports- 
men, not for pot-hunters.” The price asked for and 
paid by a thoroughly unanimous vote of the members 
present at the meeting convened for the purpose, is 
moderately reasonable, as fishing waters are let 
nowadays, and there is no doubt the acquirement will 
increase the already widespread popularity of the club, 
ten-fold. New members are already seeking to be ad¬ 
mitted, and Shardlow during the forthcoming summer 
promises, fi-om an angling point of view, to revive the 
glories of the old days. No doubt one or two of the 
local tavern keepers will grumble at being deprived of the 
right of selling day tickets as in the past; but on the 
other hand, those at Shardlow will find, in the increased 
visitation of the Wellingtonians, a number of generous 
sportsmen, whose presence they will be glad to welcome 
on a subsequent occasion. The waters at Shardlow 
afford every variety of angling, and, owing to the sinuous 
course of the Trent in the locality, certain places are 
always sheltered from the wind. The work of the 
transfer of the fishery has been done very quietly, and 
all are grateful to Mr. Wood, the lessee, for the great 
concessions which he has made. 
FROM SHEFFIELD. 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
There has been more fishing around Sheffield during 
the last fortnight than at any time since the winter 
came upon us. In Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire 
the waters have recovered from the effects of the snow, 
ice, and ground-thaw, and are now, with few exceptions, 
in fishable condition, while the mildness of the weather 
has induced anglers to take up their rods and ‘‘ an 
angling go.” The Trent, the Witham, and the Chester¬ 
field canal, have yielded fairly well, while the Pheasant 
Inn party had no reason to complain of the result of 
their last Thursday’s outing to Lord Galway’s estate. 
Catches have been good, but there was nothing excep¬ 
tional in any case to warrant special mention. It would 
be an interesting novelty to have to chronicle the 
capture of a grand pike. Very little has been doing so 
far among these fish, thanks to the nnpropitious weather. 
As soon as we have fairly recovered from one series of 
adverse conditions, the water has again been thrown out 
of gear by another. In parts of the country not fre¬ 
quented by Sheffielders, one sees reports of catches, but 
so far wo have been altogether out of the swim. 
Regular readers of these notes will bear me out when 
I say that I have for the last six months acted as the 
candid friend of the Sheffield Anglers’ Association. As 
a powerful organisation, as one composed for the most 
part of working inen pure and simple, and as an insti¬ 
tution that seeks in its own way to benefit the thousands 
of anglers who own allegiance to it. it has my heartiest 
commendation and good wishes. But all the same, its 
ways are occasionally crooked, while its principles, 
sometimes, are inconsistent with the loftier ethics of 
sport. Thus it comes about, that although friendly 
disposed towards it, I never condone its irregularities, 
and am never tired of urging it onward to better things. 
I am pleased to see that in a contsmporai-y a well-known 
local angler, one who is, as it were, saturated with the 
spirit of Isaak Walton, and who, moreover, is a member 
of the association, has taken up the points I have so 
often laid down, and has, in a vigorous and timely 
article, brought home the shortcomings and failings of 
the association. It is stated that the ostrich, when 
pursued by an enemy, buries its foolish head in the sand, 
thereby imagining that the remainder of its body will 
be likewise invisible to its pursuer. The policy of the 
association has, on many occasions, been like that of the 
ostrich—it has refused to acknowledge that abases did 
exist, and has strenuously resisted any attempt tending 
towards reform. In season and out of season, a number 
of local anglers and well-wishers of the society, some 
connected with it, and some who have always stood aloof 
from it, have, at meetings and in the press, urged reform 
after reform. They have pointed out that the associa¬ 
tion was old fashioned and behind the times ; that its 
managers had got into a groove which it seemed almost 
impossible for them to leave ; that the rules were not 
conducive to the preservation of pure sport; that the 
general conditions under which meetings were held, 
business transacted, and matches fished, were mat¬ 
ters for regret to all who had the interests of the asso¬ 
ciation at heart. At first a deaf ear was turned 
to all this. The association was controlled by those to 
whose interest it was that these things should continue, 
therefore, nothing was done. But of late a welcome 
change has come o’er the condition of affairs, and the 
well-meant efforts of the critics are bearing fruit. First 
and foremost the association has consented to hold its 
quarterly meeting in the Temperance Hall instead of in 
a low, stuffy, and smoke-beclouded room at the Crown 
Inn ; new blood has been infused into the committee; 
prosecutions have been undertaken -. new waters are 
being negotiated for; the taking of undersized fish is 
receiving serious attention, and, in short, a healthier 
tone generally is pervading every action of the asso¬ 
ciation. This is hopeful; it is what many have long 
struggled for, and with a few more improvements we 
shall see the Sheffield Anglers’ Association on a par 
with those of Nottingham, Birmingham, and other 
populous centres. At present, despite its numbers, it is 
woefully behind them. Now, however, that the ancient 
horough has been raised to the rank and dignity of a 
city, it may stimulate the heads of the association to 
make their organization more in keeping with the added 
dignity of the town—or, rather, city. 
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send 2s. cd. in stamps for a copy post free everv week for 
S months of "Thk Publishers’ Circul.vr .vnd Booksellers' 
Record," St. Dunstan's House, Fetter-lane, Fleet-street 
London. 
FROM SHROPSHIRE. 
To the Editor of the Fishing Gazette. 
A correspondent to the local papers l.ist week strike.- 
the old key-note of complaint anent the impoverished 
salmon fi-hing of the upper Severn, aptly pointing out 
^ that the tact of the weirs in the upper Severn being in 
I a bad state, as alluded to in the report of Mr. George on 
I the weirs of the Vyrnwy, does not affect the question 
I until the weirs of the lower waters h ive been made 
I thoroughly efficient. We quite agree that the Conser¬ 
vators of the Severn must commence at the estuary and 
clear all obstacles to the passage of the fish right along 
the river before proceeding to set matters right in the 
Vyrnwy. After pointing out the profitable takes of the 
lower water netters as compared with those of anglers 
and fishermen in the upper districts, the same writer 
raises a grumble at the proposal of the board to 
increase the Severn trout red and line licences 
in the cofinties of Shropshire, Montgomeryshire, and 
Denbighshire, and he asks why does the board wish ” to 
take advantage of rod fishermen who come out for a 
day’s fishing, and stay at places like Llanymynech and 
Llansaintft’raid for a short holiday, when they have 
plenty of ways and means to raise the funds from other 
sources?” Why not, he continues, double the licences 
of those parties who take the lion’s share of the XltJ.')!') 
which, according to the offioial figures of the board, 
recently published, was derived by lower water 
netters for the salmon they captui'ed last year. 
While admitting the justice of the latter remark, 
we cannot think, however, that the result of in¬ 
creasing the Severn rod and line trout licences 
from the nominal sum of la. to ffs, per annum 
would prove a very serious matter, as no angler would, 
we think, object to this addition, provided he was 
satisfied that the board were wisely dispensing the 
additional revenue derived, not in bettering the salmon 
fishing of the river generally, but in improving the 
moderately good trout fishing of the upper Severn and 
Vyrnwy. The sum of Is. does seem small for the 
privilege of a twelve months’ angling for trout, while 
rough fish may also be taken without an additional 
licence fee. 
Justices Lawiaoce aud Henn Collins, of the Queen’s 
Bench Division, have spoken. The jurisdiction of the 
Severn Conservators over that part of the river which 
lies above the great dam of Lake Vyrnwy is a thing of 
the ijast, and the Corporation of Liverpool have won 
their ease. The board fought the matter out before the 
Llanfyllin magistrates and were defeated, and last week 
they appealed to the higher court with a like result. 
The result of the case is, broadly, that the board have- 
now no power to enforce the payment of licence fees 
from anglers fishing in or above Lake Vyrnwy ; although 
before the construction c f that lake, the Vyrnwy being 
a tributary of the Severn, they had jurisdiction up to 
the source. 
l-cyotts from Clubs' 
We beg to request Secretaries to post their Reports 
not later than 'Wednesday Nigh.t, addressed “ Editor, 
Fishing Gazette, St. Dunstan’s House, Fetter Lzne, 
London,” and marked Club Eepoet outside envelope, 
Dost Card Reports preferred, unless for special meetings. 
Anglers’ Association, Foresters’ Hall, Clerken- 
well-road, E C.—The monthly delegate meeting will take 
place on Monday evening next, Feb. 20, at 8 30, when 
the deputations will give their report of their interviews 
with the Thames Conservancy Board and the Great 
Eastern Railway authorities.—R. Ghdeney, see. 
Anglers’ Association.— No. 1 Eastern District. 
—The next return visit of the above will be to the 
Brunswick Brothers Angling Society, Cherry Tree, 
Brui s.vic’K-road, Bromley, on Monday next. Feb. 20, 
when I hope we shall have a good attendance.—G. 
Manning. 
Anglers’ Benevolent Society, Foresters’ Hall, 
Clerkenwell-road, E.C.—Since my last report I beg to 
aoknoivlege, with thanks, the receipt of £l donation 
from M. Davies, Gresham Angling Society, and .£2 
from the dsnation box of the Amicable' Brothers 
Angling Society. The next meeting of the committee 
will tako place on Friday evening, Feb. 2f. at 8.31.— 
R Ghcrney, see. 
Anglers' Benevolent Society.— Fifth Annual 
Angling Co.npetition, in Aid of the Funds of the 
Anglers’ Benevolent Society, and Convalescent Home 
Funds.-On Friday, the 10th inst., the committee met, 
and some very important business was got through. 
The following gentlemen and societies promised prizes: 
Mr. Hewett, of the Good Intent, Hoxton Brothers, value 
£1 1.^. : Mr. G. H. Wood ; Mr. W. Worrall. of the East 
London Piscatorials, a pair of leggings; Crown and 
Backhand, a prize ; Clissold, a prize ; Sociable Brothers, 
a prize ; Mr. C. A. Medcalf, a prize : Mr. Laming, an 
electro cruet. Received from the Anglers’ Pride, os. 
Messrs. Pether, Swain, Mallett, Parsons, and F. Legge 
were added to the committee, who will meet at the 
Foresters’ Hall, E.C., on Friday, the 2Ith. at I'.-'ll.— 
S. Malby, sec. 
Battersea United Piscatorials, Lord Ranelagh, 
Verona-street, S.W.—On the 15th inst. Mr. E. Wilson 
weighed-in 161b. 2joz. of splendid roach. At our last 
meeting our next match was discussed, and members 
are requested to note the date of same. Roving, punt 
or bank. All information at club-house, Sunday or 
Wednesday evenings.—A. Trowbridge. 
