April 1, 1893] 
THE PISHING GAZETTE 
237 
lEotes antr (Jlucrics 
TOaltontana 
Mr. F. C. N.\sh, secretary of the Lower Stour 
Fishery Association, informs us that he has just 
turned one thousand two-year-old trout into the 
club water, and has a fine lot of yearlings in the 
ponds. Anyone who wants a rod on a good bit 
of trout water, at a small figure, should write to 
Mr. Nash, at 3, The Parade, Canterbury. The 
best way to fish this water is to take the train to 
Sturry, and fish up to Canterbury. It contains 
some very heavy fish. 
We regret to hear that Mr. T. R. Sachs, Presi¬ 
dent of the Piscatorial Society, met with rather 
j a serious accident the other evening, getting 
pitched out of a hansom, and considerably 
bruised and shaken. It was pretty plucky of him, 
under the circumstances, to keep his appointment 
and read his promised paper at the City Pisca- 
torials on Monday. We hope he will soon be 
right again. _ 
Every year about this time for now some 
fourteen years, Mrs. Bullmer, fishing-tackle 
maker, 62, Wandsworth-road, London, has sent 
us some of her excellent gossamer gut casting- 
lines. They are as good as ever, and she also now 
makes them in stouter sizes, tapered. Where 
fine-drawn gut must be used, we always use Mrs. 
Bullmer’s. 
The Late Poaching Affray on the Lidhle 
Water. —Sergeant Alston, of Langholm, and 
Thomas Bell, the Duke of Buccleuch’s game- 
keeper, in company with Constable Forteith and 
Thomas Graham, another gamekeeper, came upon 
four poachers in the Liddle water above the 
Reddings junction on the Border. This was in 
February last, and the accused appeared before 
Sheriff Campion, at the Dumfries Court, last 
week. Thomas Bell, the gamekeeper, who is 
probably as game as they make them in that 
quarter of the universe, made for the four men 
implicated, and directly they saw him off they 
scudded across the Liddle water to the English 
side of the debatable land. • Bell followed 
the four men alone, and it is said collared 
one of them named Dickson. This, if you 
please, took place at 1.30 in the morning, a 
circumstance which speak volumes in behalf of 
the officers who were on the trial of the delin¬ 
quents. Dickson or his counsel stated that he 
was in the Cross Keys Hotel, Canonbie, when the 
alleged affray or assault took place, or the poach¬ 
ing or burning of the water. This was of no 
avail. The sheriff, who is a born angler, addressed 
the accused in these burning words. “ This class 
of offence, viz., assaults on river watchers and 
other men in the execution of their duty must bo 
put a stop to.” He, the sheriff, wiped his hands of 
all the rubbish which had been imported into the 
case, everything was as clear as daylight; the 
evidence for the accused four he tore in tatters, 
and sentenced the one prisoner in front of him, 
Dickson, to sixty days’ imprisonment. Messrs. 
W. F. Craig and A. W. Findlay, solicitors, 
Dumfries, who were in evidence, were rather 
dumbfounded at the result of Sheriff Campion’s 
decision. Mr. Campion is the kind of sheriff 
badly wanted on the Border. Burning the water 
IS a trifle out of date at the present time, and 
however much a moderate angler may wink at 
such proclivities and irregularities, ’twont do. 
We are past the era when Sir Walter Scott, as 
sheriff of Selkirk,- cautioned Tom Purdie and 
took him into his service in conjunction with 
AWllie Laidlaw, who wrote the MSS. of Ivanhoe. 
Mell, the Border Esk has a heap to answer for, 
and we only hope it has not ” dried up,” but still 
careers along its onward course towards the Sol¬ 
way by way of Netherby and the Metal Bridge. 
"~(j. 
^ Fishing on the Suir, Co. Waterford, from 
Glenahera Lodge, Major Hon. F. Le Poer Trench 
has again had the good fortune to land a very 
large fresh-run salmon, weighing 38.Ub., on the 
fly with single gut. The fish was gaffed by 
Mr. Richard Condon, and was 41in. in length and 
24in. in girth. This is believed to be the largest 
fish killed on the rod in the Suir this season. 
Any further representations which angling 
clubs and individual anglers wish to make to the 
Conservators respecting the proposed Thames 
bye-laws, should be sent in not later than April 
16. The petition to the Privy Council will come 
on later. Possibly the Conservators will modify 
their bye-laws and render such an appeal un¬ 
necessary. _ 
To-day Thames trout fi.shing commences for 
1893. Every year the trout in the Thames 
between Teddington and Goring are slightly 
increased in numbers by the preservation associa¬ 
tions, and the fishing as steadily improves. 
Whether one particular season is better than 
another depends mostly on the weather. Cold, 
frosty nights, low, clear water, and bright sun¬ 
shine are no more favourable to Thames tronting 
than to any other kind of fishing, and I very 
much fear that few fish will be taken so long as 
the present conditions, enjoyable as they ai’e, con¬ 
tinue. 
After such a long, dull, cheerless, cold winter, 
one cannot, even though an angler, find heart at 
present to rail against the glorious sunshine. But 
it is bad for trout-fishing all over the country. 
The Easter angler is deserving of, and has, our 
commiseration, for it usually happens to him 
that he either has to face a biting blast and snow 
showers, or finds the trout stream to which he 
looks for sport a mere trickle between boulders. 
Easter is a movable sort of feast, and I think 
the date of it ought to be determined each year 
by the angling community in council. It very 
rarely falls right for fly fishers. 
So far as my experience goes, Whitsuntide is a 
better time for Thames trout fishing than Easter. 
At present most of the large fish, which, after 
spawning, retire into quiet water, are not to be 
found in the weir pools, which will only be 
tenanted by a few of the early breeding fish. 
Immediately after a trout has gone through the 
egg laying or fertilising process, she or he is weak, 
and not in a condition to battle with the turbulent 
waters just below the iveirs. At Easter there is 
so much traffic on the river that the trout fisher 
has a poor chance in the reaches, and, as I have 
pointed out, the weirs are not well tenanted so 
early in the season. It is supposed that the 
steam and other traffic drives the trout into the 
weir pools, certainly the tugs and launches are 
very detrimental to fish and fishing wherever 
they are found. 
The following letter expresses the opinion of the 
Oxford Angling and Preservation Society on 
the Thames Conservators’ proposals to allow an 
enormous increase of netting and other privileges 
to persons claiming private fisheries. It was 
written by the hon. secretary to Mr. C. H. Cook, 
before the meeting at the Foresters’ Hall, but was 
delayed in transit, and only came recently to 
hand. “ Dear Sir, there will not, I fear, be any 
one from our Society in London to-m-.rrow, but I 
am requested to write from the Society as 
strongly as 140 anglers are able to speak, pro¬ 
testing earnestly against the new lease of life 
proposed to be given to the system of netting in 
the Thames. We consider the cause of angling is 
now threatened with a great evil whieh assumes 
a most dangerous aspect in view of the fact that 
so large a sum has been thrown into the Thames 
fisheries in recent years. This increased value in 
the fisheries will encourage the more selfish 
riparians to use their netting facilities to the 
utmost extent. It is scarcely conceivable that the 
recreation and enjoyment of the mass of the 
people should be thus sacrificed by any body of 
gentlemen having power to frame bye-laws for the 
Thames fisheries.” 
I HAAE had many opportunities of obtaining 
the opinion of the various up river fishery 
associations, and their members appear to incline 
to the view that should the Comervators allow 
netting in the Thames, the associations will all, 
or nearly all, be dissolved. It would be a lament¬ 
able thing were this to take place, but I do not 
see how it could be avoided. No association could 
honourably invite the public to subscribe money 
to preserve and stock a river which was liable at 
any time to be netted from end to end. Some 
millers are good friends to anglers, but others are 
not, and I well know some who, if they might, 
would take every opportunity of netting their 
pools and taking out trout and other fish. 
Through a certain country town runs a fine 
river, which is preserved by a local club. Large 
numbers of trout and coarse fish have been 
placed in the river, but all the best trout work 
up to the tail of a mill. The water from the 
nrill—the “ tail water ”—runs for a few yards 
through a bricked channel, and it is the custom 
of the miller, at short intervals, to place a net at 
the mouth of the channel just before stopping 
his mill. The result is that immediately the 
water ceases running the channel runs dry, 
empty, and any trout there may be in it are left 
floundering, and are easily retrieved in a landing 
net. It is a scandalous thing, but the miller is 
within his legal rights. I give this as an illus¬ 
tration of what millers and others might do on 
the Thames if they were empow'ered to do such 
things by the conservators. 
The editor has asked me to look into and 
report upon a little pamphlet entitled “ Epping 
Forest Commoners’ Rights and City Corpora¬ 
tion.” The story of the cottagers’ agitation 
against the Conservators in defence of their legal 
rights, and a statement of their case. ” 32, Fleet- 
street. Epping Forest,”so says the preface,” owes 
its existence to-day to the rights of the com¬ 
moners, who, long before the Corporation of 
London took up the matter, were fighting en¬ 
closing lords of manors, and going even to prison 
in defence of their rights. The principal grievance 
at present, so far as I can understand, is that the 
Corporation of London, who are Conservators of 
the Forest, do not recognise certain rights claimed 
by the smaller commoners, men holding less than 
half an acre of land. Sir Horace Davey, Q.C., 
has stated, in an opinion which was obtained from 
him, that a claim to rights of pasture could not 
be mantained on the strength of owning a house 
without any land, but the Conservators seek to 
prevent common rights being enjoyed by those 
who have not land to the extent of half acre as 
well as the house. The idea, doubtless, is that 
unless a man has sufficient land to grow food to 
keep his cattle in the winter, it would be useless 
to give him summer pasturage rights. Certainly 
the poorer these commoners are, the greater 
claims have they to the consideration of the 
corporation. The pamphlet of course tells us 
principally one side of the question. Those 
interested should obtain it from the address 1 
have given. _ Templar. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
SuiiscRiHER (Grantham). — We recommend 
Scarborough. 
A. E.—The only firm we know which sells the 
glass minnow-trap is Messrs. Alfred & Son, 
Moor gate-street, London. Minnows will live in 
a tank in shallow water. Water should be 
renewed now and then. 
CoTOsjjottUtna 
[We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions 
expressed by our Correspondents.] 
“ One of the charms of angling is that it presents an 
endless field for argument, speculation, and experi¬ 
ment.” —T. E. Pritt. 
THAMES ANGLING COLLECTING BOXES. 
Sir, —Will you kindly permit me to remind 
those Angling Clubs who have collecting boxes for 
the T.A.P.S., that the financial year ends on the 
30th of April, and it will be desirable the results 
of each should be sent in any time during the 
month of April. I would express a hope that 
each will do their best to increase our funds at so 
important a period, as the committee can onl}' 
determine with their balance that can be done 
in the future. W. H. Bhougiiam, 
Powmall-gardens, Hounslow. Secretary. 
