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THE PISHING GAZETTE 
[Mauch 18, 1893 
the question lies whether your angler ever is a 
sane man. A singular feature about this spring 
fishing in the neighbourhood of Athlone is this : 
the water swarms with pike; in summer, fire and 
six dozen have been taken in a day with the 
gudgeon, yet in early spring, aetually fewer pike 
than salmon take the gudgeon. This is a most 
merciful interposition of Providence so far as it 
goes, for had it been otherwise, salmon fishing 
would be entirely out of the question. 
A spring fish killed, say, on February 1, about 
a hundred miles from the sea is, to me, some¬ 
thing of a mystery and a wonder. He probably 
left the sea about the close of the Christmas 
holidays, and had he not fallen in fight would 
have given signs of his presence in the river up 
till May. After that his movements are obscure, 
but occasionally, though very rarely, he has been 
taken on tly or worm in June or July—a red 
fish. Now, what is he after in the river? 
Spawning ? Will he kill time till the grip of 
winter is on the water, and so betake him to the 
redds on family matters bent ? If so, when will 
he fall down to the sea a kelt, so that he can 
shake off the marks of his long sojourn in his 
native stream, and, after getting into the pink of 
condition, be back here by the middle of January 
at the latest ? Or does he only visit, as in 
alternate years ? Truly, there seems things in 
the water, as well as in heaven and earth, not 
dreamt of in our philosophy. 
Well, our season may be said to have opened 
propitiously. On the 1st, three fish fell to as 
many boats ; next day, four were accounted for, 
then we had one, and on Saturday another. 
There were four boats working. The knowing 
ones judged the water to be in good ply on the 
1st; in fact to be the very thing, as only an 
inch or two of water was coming over the weir 
wall. But alas! ere the day closed, the rain 
came down, and steadily all night it kept on 
coming, neither was there much cessation on 
the next day, and so, with a roaring torrent 
rolling over the wall, the aforementioned wise 
ones ominously shook their hands, and even 
almost suggested the putting away of tackle. 
The event showed they were right, too. The 
fish, in fact, seem to love to disport them¬ 
selves in the lively water of the cascade rapids, 
but when a regular Niagara sets in they take it 
as a hint for business, and so they dash up the 
falls and away to the lake, leaving your poor 
angler lamenting. Of course, another head of 
fish may be expected in a week or two, and the 
water may then be in suitable fettle, who knows ? 
Netting begins, too, in another week, and few 
things are better calculated to soothe and sweeten 
the angler’s life than the spectacle of your nets- 
man brandishing a potstick and battering the 
brains out of struggling fish w'hich he has just 
hauled on to the grassy margin out of the 
favourite “beat.” At such times there is fre¬ 
quently an exchange of amenities, but we may 
take them as read for the present. Some two 
seasons ago two nets got upwards of 300 fish 
here, and the disgusted and disheartened rodsters 
poured out their griefs to Sir T. Brady and one of 
his colleagues, who gave them a long and patient 
hearing. The nets were shortened a little in 
consequence, and certainly nothing like that one 
harvest has been made since, though probably 
the shortening of the nets has had very little to 
do with it. Our best fish, so far, was 161b. 
There was one 141b., and I saw one only 101b. 
Our large fish, however, are not about till next 
month. 
A few trout have been taken in the local 
streams with worm, and big baskets are looked 
forward to when the present flood fines down a 
little ; but with regard to trout fishing here, the 
lake’s the thing. Last year, prosecutions were 
threatened against certain salmon anglers for 
alleged illegal practices, and summonses were 
even issued ; but finally, withdrawn. However, 
while the friction lasted, things piscatorial were 
looked into a little by the threatened parties and 
their friends, with an eye, probably, to the in 
quoque argument, and certainly their labour was 
not in vain. One legal gentleman assured me 
that he had positive proof that upwards of half a 
ton of trout was despatched to market by train 
on the morning of the first day of the season. Of 
course, this was perfectly legal, as he pointed 
out; “ but,” said he, “ do you not think it time 
the world, or at least, the angling world, should 
know 'that we have anglers here, who, to two 
boats, can kill between midnight and, say, eight 
o’clock, something like lOcwt. of trout ? They 
could not have netted them, of course, as nets are 
not allowed till a fortnight later, nor taken them 
earlier, as the season was only a few hours old.” 
Certainly such a record deserves mention, and it 
was mentioned a month or two later, to one, who, 
it was supposed, would take a very great interest 
in it indeed, if only for professional reasons, 
even to the extent of satisfying himself that 
such a miraculous feat was really accomplished. 
But we were mistaken. The “Board” did not 
give two brass farthings for the trout. Salmon 
alone pays. Trout indeed ! most destructive they 
are—devour salmon roe—are, in fact, little better 
than “ varmint.” After this I pulled in my 
horns a little, but, plucking up heart of grace, I 
meekly ventured to observe that, anyway, the 
board might not adopt a dog-in-the-manger 
policy with us poor trout fishers; they will 
neither protect our fish nor let us catch them. 
There are scores of “ otters ” raking that unfor¬ 
tunate lake winter and spring (those caught too 
early for sale are kept in artificial tanks till the 
opening day of the season) and not a penny is 
paid for one of them. Now if one of us take out 
a cross-line licence, and mount a harmless neces¬ 
sary “ otter,” your local bailiff drops on us; so 
the lake becomes exclusively the happy hunting- 
ground of the poacher. The “ otter ” is the only 
way a few trout can be taken till the May-fly is 
up, and yet we who are willing to pay for our 
engine must stand idly by while the hardy islan¬ 
der rakes away, without leave or licence, and 
snaps his fingers in all our faces. However, he 
said he had nothing to do with all that, and, in 
fact, the conclusion one had to come to was that, 
if one wanted to kill trout, the only plan was to 
become an islander, and chance it. 
FRIENDS OF MY YOUTH. 
By Red Palmek. 
How frequently I look back to the forties and 
fifties, when living in a small Hampshire town. 
How I used to revel in sport. 
Dear old Tom T-, both of us fond of the 
gun, the rod, and the cricket-bat, how we would 
filch a little time from business now and then, 
and be oft' up the river. 
In those days owners of fishing waters seldom 
asserted their rights, and were hardly thought 
of. Our only care was to keep on good terras 
with the tenants, by not trampling the long grass 
or breaking down the fences, or by offering them 
a brace of trout occasionally, which, by the bye, 
were seldom accepted. With oil-skin low hats of 
a nautical type, velveteen jackets with pockets 
in the skirt that would accommodate either a hare 
or three or four brace of trout, leather leggings, 
and stout hob-nailed boots, we cared little for the 
weather. Although both keen anglers, we were 
somewhat roughly found, as the sailors’ phrase is, 
but, “ sufficient for the day,” &c. Trout were 
not so highly educated then as they are now. A 
12-foot rod, with a multiplying reel, about thirty 
yards of mixed silk and hair line, a few strands 
of strong gut, and a small assortment of flies, 
made by some local hand (frequently an inmate 
of the workhouse), consisting of March Browns, 
Palmers, May-flies, and white moths, constituted 
our equipment; and with skill and perseverance 
we have frequently trudged home, after a five or 
six mile walk, with our vel veteen jackets drag¬ 
ging heavily on our shoulders. Then the next 
morning some drooping invalid, or some old 
friend, was gladdened with a brace of trout for 
breakfast. 
Tom was a far better angler than 1 was under 
ordinary circumstances, but I could generally 
beat bim with the May-fly. I recollect on one 
occasion we started from home about five o’clock 
in the evening, and commenced fishing at six. 
When we reeled-np at dusk he had four brace of 
trout, and I had eight brace. I attributed my 
greater success then, and, after many years of 
experience, I still believe it was owing to my 
having got the knack of imitating the drop of a 
May-fly on the water. Having a heavier body 
in proportion to the size of its wings than other 
flies, it falls suddenly, and creates a number of 
concentric rings, which attract the fish. In this 
and all other respects copy nature when fishing. 
Then again, old John S-, and I use the term j i 
old not only by way of endearment, but in recog- 'V 
nition of the fact that he is now in his eighty- m 
sixth year. Never was there a man more staunch ft 
and loyal to a friend. ^ 
He first taught me to cast under and among fl 
bushes, and to get out of them again without E 
getting entangled, and he also taught nie the * 
value of Palmer-flies. I recollect his saying on 4 
one occasion, “ There is a trout under that tree, 4 
and I must have him out of it,” and sure enough *i 
he did, in a very few minutes, although it was a 
difficult spot to get at. r 
Another old friend, who has lately gone over to I, 
the majority, was Alick M-. Many a mile has fi 
he tramped with me, just for the sake of landing J 
my fish, and as he used flatteringly to say, “ to 4 
sit at the feet of Gamaliel.” For eight years | 
after I left the neighbourhood has he been on the f 
platform of a certain station on the arrival of a 1 
certain train in the May-fly season, to welcome J 
me, and re-visit together the spots where we had j 
spent so many pleasant days. That also is past. f 
Still it is pleasant to dwell on these old J 
recollections, to recall the capture of a big trout S 
known for weeks to haunt a particular spot, or ® 
the occasion of hooking and landing two good n 
fish at a time; and. turning from the pleasures of M 
memory to those of hope, to look forward to the a 
coming spring-time, when the cowslips will again w 
be bursting forth, the wood-pigeon be cooing in a 
the coppice as of old, and once again to whip the j 
well-known pools and scours with a friend. ^ 
Then, at night, to saunter back well-laden with • J 
trout, smoking the calumet of peace, at peace « 
with all the world, pleased at having had good 1 
sport, and happy still to be able to exercise the ■ 
i fly-fisher’s craft. I 
OTaltoniana 
Tiieee has been a monstrous big jack taken - 
from the Thames just above Goring. Young, J 
brother to one of the most clever fishermen on 
the Thames, Bob Young, of Medmenham, caught 
it. It weighed 251b. _ j 
After a most disasterous winter for angling, 
we had one decent week before the close season 
commenced. Most kinds of fish were feeding 
well, as will be seen from the river reports, j 
though in some parts of the Thames roach fed | 
badly on the last two days of the season. From b 
the large numbers of fry in the ditches this m 
spring, 1 believe that last year must have been i® 
unusually favourable for spawning. 1 see a good 
many yearling perch about, and baby roach, chub, ^ 
and gudgeon are simply swarming in millions in 
one little creek I wot of. S 
Sprinu is awakening rapidly, and it is to be 'I 
hoped that no severe frost will come to cut down ) s 
the tender shoots which are springing forth. 1 
What a pity it is that coarse fish will spawn just | 1 
at a time when it begins to be pleasant to fish for ) 
them. Trout and salmon are sensible creatures, . 1 
spawning in winter, when the river-side is any- a 
thing but pleasant; but those silly pike and perch 
become great with eggs just when life becomes f 
worth living and angling a pleasure. Well, those i 
of us who can must hie away to some lovely trout i) 
stream. _ 
The very full renort of the important meeting ^, 
held at thf) Foresters’ Hall last week, speaks for ^ 
itself, and very little comment is necessary. One I > 
thing was abundantly clear—the meeting, witl> ■ 
out exception, was entirely opposed to netting and 1 1 
night-lining in the Thames. 
After the meeting, Mr. 0. H. Woodhall, of the i 
'T.A.F.S., came to Mr. C. H. Cook, who is hon. 
sec. of the Henley Fishery I’reservation Asso - 1 
ciation, and told him that he was so pleased with 
what he and his association had done in the 
matter of Thames fishery preservation and in 
making such a good fight over the bye-laws, that 
he would make a donation of two guineas to the 
association, lb is very pleasing to me to make : 
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