laltoitiana 
It is a great mistake to “ holloa before you are 
oufc or the wood/’ as I have found from bitter 
experience, but I am glad to be able to tell the 
readers of this column that the representations 
ot London anglers, country anglers, town council, 
county council, and private individuals have at 
^st led to the discovery on the part of the 
ihames Conservators, that it is just possible some 
amendment on the Thames Fishery Bye-laws, as 
dratted by them, would be desirable. What is 
more, the board as a whole, seems to have 
awakened to the fact that it is not altogether a 
wise thing to place the making of fishery bye¬ 
laws in the hands of a committee composed of 
riparian owners ; and the result of this discovery 
has been that the committee which had charge of 
the matter has been enlarged by the addition of 
several members. But, as I have hinted, we are 
not yet quite out the wood, and I would urge, 
nay, implore, all the angling clubs and associations 
interested, to examine with the greatest delibera¬ 
tion and care any fresh proposals which are made 
by the Conservators. There will be absolutely no 
hurry in the matter, and at least a fortnight 
after the receipt of any new draft of 
the bye-laws before any expression of approval or 
disapproval is sent to the Conservators. Fishery 
bye-laws are by no means simple things, and as I 
have often said, it requires a lawyer to understand 
their full effect. Therefore it will be advisable to 
have them thoroughly discussed in the angling 
press, which has rendered such ^ood service to 
1 hames anglers in this matter, before coming to 
any final decision concerning them. 
the Thames. Nothing like this has ever been 
done on the Upper Thames before, so far as I can 
remember, and the affair is a very big feather 
indeed in the cap of the executive at Reading. 
I HEAR that last season, though large quantities 
of trout were taken in Lake Vyriiwy, many of the 
fish were in poor condition, which is the more 
extraordinary because the place is said to teem 
with natural food. Has the variety of the trout 
anything to do with it.® The great majority of 
the fish introduced were Loch Levens.' It has 
been said that those fish when in reservoirs do not 
always thrive, many of them getting thin and 
lanky after having been in the water for a few 
years. The Loch Leven trout is naturally a long 
thin fish, and it may be that people have put 
down their natural thinness to poorness of coiidi- 
tion, but he is also a very voracious feeder, and I 
can quite understand that, where food was scarce, 
he, or any other trout for the matter of that’ 
would fall off in condition in a year or two. But 
there is this fact which must not be forgotten, 
in the Howietoun ponds where the fish are fed 
regularly, these trout grow in a very short time 
to a very large size, and are in as fine condition 
as the most exigeant angler could wish. I walked 
round this pond one day by the side of the man 
who feeds the fish. The trout knew the pail 
perfectly well, and they followed us splashing so 
that to go near the edge of the pond meant a pair 
of wet breeches. Templar. 
His immediate successor wrote a good sensible 
column on angling subjects, so I dropped the 
paper, convinced that the mantle of T.E.P. 
would go unworn. I must apologise to the 
present editor, and will make amends by reading 
him in future, for the man who could write that 
Jvnaresbro’ story is worth reading, and I promise 
that any of his yarns which find their way into 
the columns of the 2\orthern Angler shall set 
forth the source from which they arose.—Yours 
faithfully, j. Blakey. 
Northern Angler Office, Scarbro’. 
Persons interested in this matter should care- 
report of a recent meeting of 
the Berkshire County Council. It is a great 
satisfaction to me to find that, not only have I 
been heartily and loyally supported in this 
matter by both London and country anglers but 
that also men like Sir G. Russell, Q.C., M P ’ and 
several members of the Berkshire County Council 
take epctly the same view that I have taken 
throughout. We may now, I think, be certain 
that an alteration will be made in the bye-laws 
but whether that alteration will entirely meet the 
case remains to be seen. The ingenuity with 
which an attempt was made to strengthen the 
netting bye-laws in favour of the riparian owners 
and at the same time make it appear that we 
anglers had been given all that we asked for, 
leads rne to distrust those who have the drafting 
ot bye-laws ; but now the committee is enlarged 
it IS quite possible that the Conservators will 
recognise their duty to the public as being of far 
greater importance than their personal relations 
with gentlemen who own or claim fisheries in the 
Ihames. 
The Committee of the House of Commons have 
had before them the London County Council 
(General Power.s) Bill, and they have decided that 
lour members of the Council (and not seven mem- 
bers, as was originally suggested in the Bill) ought 
to be added to the Board of Thames Conservators. 
Of course the Bill has still to pass the third 
reading, and I should not be surprised if the 
±louse of Lords does not make an attempt to con- 
siderably modify it; but there is a very fair pro¬ 
spect of it becoming law, and the people and 
anglers of London being at last properly repre- 
sented on the Board of Thames Conser4tora- 
though whether l am right in saying that repre¬ 
sentation ot four IS sufficient for a population of 
SIX millions, is perhaps open to question. At any 
rate those four rnembers will be equal in numbers 
to the four elected riparian members of the Cpper 
Thames, and will most certainly look after the 
interests cf the London anglers. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
E. Earp. —Glad to see your handwriting again 
alter such a long silence. The G.O.M. May-flies 
are made by Mrs. Ogden Smith, 37, St. John’s- 
hill, Clapham Junction. 
I HOPE London anglers made a mental note of 
the most valuable addition made recently to the 
stock ot Thames fish by the Reading Angling 
Preservation Association. Some private water 
H good sized fish, 
.5,000 qt which were perch, going from ilb. to fib. 
in weight, and an immense number of roach 
above bin. in length, were secured, and placed in 
[IFe do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions 
expressed by our Correspondents.'] 
One of the charms of angling is that it presents an 
endless JiM for argument, speculation, and experi- 
tnent, —Jl. E. Pritt, ^ 
THAMES PRIVATE FISHERIES. 
Dear Sir— I have purposely waited to see 
what reply Mr. Plummer would make to my 
report of the 15th inst. Seeing none, perhaps he 
will kindly reply respecting this and the notice 
boards which are still to be seen within a short 
distance of Monkey Island ; other proofs, which 
I purposely withheld, will come along in due 
course. Meantime, I and many of your readers 
look for a reply to the charge 1 there made. We 
do not require Messrs. Darville and Last’s or 
Mr. Van de Weyer’s, but Mr. Plummer’s. 
Whilst writing, I notice a little paragraph 
anent licences to go on weir heads; doubtless the 
Conservancy are on-ners of the weir heads, but 
what about the water; who does the water 
belong to, flowing through Bray weir, for 
instance .S' The sooner all the boards are up 
stating where the “private fisheries” are the 
better ; we should then have something to work 
on. At present it appears to me the Thames 
angling public are quite on sufferance, at least 
from above the City Stone at Staines.—Your 
obedient servant, 
Ben.iamix Robert Bambridge. 
Eton, April 24. _ 
HONOUR TO WHOM HONOUR IS DUE. 
Dear Mr. Mar.ston. —Thanks for passing on 
^e letter of the editor of the Yorkshire Post. 
His protest is not at all too strong. As a 
journalist I do most emphatically protest against 
the malpractices of literary pirates. Only a 
fortnight ago our genial friend. Air. T. E Pritt 
the former angling editor of the Yorkshire Post, 
wrote to ask whether I knew that one of his very 
own originals had appeared amongst our chest- 
nuts. I didn’t know it was his. It was sent, 
carefully written on foolscap, in competition for 
prizes we offered at Christmas. In the present 
case some kind friend sent the clipping, without 
mentionmg the paper he had taken it from, and I 
gmdly used it, for it was a very funny storv. In Mr. 
Pritt s day I subscribed to the Yorkshire Post for 
the sake of “Angling in Yorkshire” alone. 
WHY NOT RAILWAY PRIVILEGE 
I TICKETS FOR LADY ANGLERS.» 
Dear Sir, May I ask you, through your 
columns, why it is that the question of the 
ladies’ privilege tickets has been allowed to drop ? 
When the subject was brought forward at the 
Association’s delegate meeting some few years 
back, it was only lost by a very small majority, 
and had the same been brought forward and put 
in a fair and unbiassed spirit, it would have been 
an established fact long ago. 
There are hundreds of anglers’ wives who are 
as much devoted to the gentle art as the husbands 
themselves; but are debarred the privilege of 
going out fishing with them on account of the 
great expense. 
The railway companies will only be too pleased 
to grant the privilege to the anglers’ wives, 
, w^n a.sked for the same by the associations. 
There is no difficulty whatever in the way, 
the members wives becoming honorary members 
of their respective clubs. The same will not 
only be a splendid revenue for the clubs, but also 
for the railway companies. AVe are now in 
the era for progression—ladies now go in for all 
kinds of athletic recreation, even for boxing. I 
frequently see names of ladies in your columns, 
having had good sport with the rod and line on 
the river’s bank. My dear sir, may I ask you to 
give a good word for the anglers’ wives P—^"Yours 
. “Benedict.” 
[This is a matter for club anglers to decide for 
themselves. We think with Benedict that the 
railway companies would place no difficulty in 
the way of letting the ladies get a little recrea¬ 
tion and fresh air.— Ed ] 
POLLOCK FISHING OFF DEAL PIER. 
De.ar Sir,— Air. Sexton, the most successful 
angler for pollock whiting last year, was down 
again recently during the Easter holidays. On 
March 29 he caught 161b. of pollock; Alarch 30 
201b.; Alarch 31, with son, 241b.; total, 601b. Mr.’ 
Lawrence, pier master, weighed the fish. Then 
they ran short of baits, “ Rag worm,” only to be 
had at Dover, where it is found in the mud at 
ffiw water. Mr. Bridgeman, a member of the 
Piscatorial Society, copied Air. Sexton’s plan, and 
caught five or six pollock before breakfast one 
rnorning. Pollock have been under the pier all 
tne winter, and sometimes caught with spinning 
baits, but the surest bait is the many legged ra" 
worm on two hooks, tail hook barbel size, upper 
hook small, so as to prevent bait slipping down, 
the two hooks about 3in. to 4in. apart, and a pipe 
lead sinker about two feet above; no float — 
Yours truly, _ T. R. Sachs. 
THE CODBECK, A CORRECTION. 
Dear Sir, —Your correspondent for York and 
district is quite wrong regarding the stocking of 
the Codbeck with trout, as the Thirsk Angling 
Club received 500 year-olds a fortnight ago from 
the Fishery Board. 
There was not a dead or sickly fish amongst 
^em, and they were turned in quite successfully 
They came from Burghley Park Fishery. 
The club does not grant leave to any strangers 
under any conditions. 
I merely state this to save my brother anglers 
any inconvenience, as from reading your corres¬ 
pondent’s notes anglers would think fishing was 
for all comers. ° 
A fine trout, weighing 21b. 13oz., was taken with 
worm last we 0 k by a club man. 
Trusting you will insert above in Fishing 
Oazette next week, and thanking you in antici¬ 
pation.—I remain, yours faithfully, 
1 . Gr.ayling. 
Alarket Place, Thirsk, April 22, 1893. 
