314 
THE FISHING GAZETTE 
[April 29, 1893 
MARKED SALMON. 
Sir, —I have read with great pleasure the 
translation of the lecture delivered by the Nor- 
■wegia,n Fishery Inspector on his experiments in 
marking salmon and sea trout on the west coast 
of Norway, which appeared in your issue of 
Saturday last. It is most deeply interesting, 
and to me it is especially so, as it shows that 
persons wholly unknown to each other, having 
the same objects in view, and living a great 
number of miles apart, have been meeting with 
the same difficulties in the carrying out of their 
experiments, and have to a very great extent 
been adopting the same measures in the hope of 
surmounting them. 
Of course the experiments carried out by the 
Norwegian Inspector have been on a far larger 
scale than anything which I as a humble marker 
of fish could possibly attempt, as it appears that 
national funds were granted to him for the 
purpose. 
There can be no doubt that the two great diffi¬ 
culties to be overcome are the finding a suitable 
metal to be used in the marking, and when that 
has been done, a mode of affixing the label to the 
fish in a firm and proper way by a metal, combi¬ 
nation of metals, or other method that will not 
in the salt water set up galvanic action, and thus 
peril the stability of the label. 
For very many months, I might almost say 
years, I have been experimenting with labels 
made of different metals and substances, and 
have had them immersed in salt water for periods 
varying from sixteen to eighteen months at a 
time, before adopting those now used by me ; but 
I regret to say that I am by no means satisfied 
with the result. 
I am bound to say that the success which I 
have obtained is far smaller than I anticipated, 
and I am sorry to see that the Norwegian Inspec¬ 
tor s results, although somewhat better than my 
own, are still far from satisfactory, as out of six 
thousand salmon and sea trout which are stated 
to have been marked by him, only a very small 
proportion appear to have returned. This I 
think must arise from some defect in the mark¬ 
ing, whereby, from causes not yet ascertained, the 
labels have become detached, as, if such had not 
been the case, very many more fish would, in my 
opinion, have been retaken. I am especially led 
to this conclusion, as the results (so far as they 
have shown anything at present) have confirmed 
the opinion which I have always most strongly 
held, and which I am glad to see is shared in by 
Herr A. Landmark, namely: that fish almost 
always, if not invariably (unless prevented by 
some unsurmountable obstacle) return to the 
river in which they were spawned. 
The results ascertained by Herr Landmark, as 
to the increase in the weight of the fish during 
their stay in the salt water and their returns to 
the rivers, are also very interesting, but in the 
few cases in which fish marked by me, or under 
my supervision, have been recaptured, the in¬ 
crease of weight has been proportionately larger 
than anything mentioned with respect to the 
Norwegian rivers. I have one instance of a fish 
marked on March 9 in one year and retaken on 
March 20 of the following year, the weights being 
stated at about 61b. when marked, and 171b. when 
retaken, which would give an increase of about 
lib. each month, but I regret to say that the weight 
wheii the fish was originally marked cannot, in my 
opinion, be depended upon, as the gentleman to 
whom the labels were sent left the marking to 
his fisherman, w'ho was a somewhat ignorant man, 
and very much inclined to deal with matters by 
rule of thumb. 
I may say that one of my great difficulties has 
been the getting the fish carefully weighed at the 
time of marking when I have not myself been 
present, and the same remarks will apply with 
respect to distinguishing the sex of the fish. I 
not long ago received from a keeper a list of fish 
marked by him, with the weight and sex of each 
fish stated, but many months after, one of the 
fish was retaken, and the return made to me by 
a different keeper, the same fish being stated to 
be of one sex when marked and of a different one 
when retaken. 
The mode in which one or two marked fish 
have, when retaken, been traced, would, I feel 
sure, if 1 were to enter on the matter, be most 
interesting to your readers, but I feel that my 
letter has already exceeded the length which your 
courtesy may allow me, and I do not therefore 
say more; and because, also, I trust at 
some future time to give the results of such 
efforts as I have been able to make to elucidate 
the habits of migratory fish in a rather more 
ample manner. 
I may say, however, that to do so on imperfect in¬ 
formation, and on results which have not extended 
over a sufficient length of time, or been carried 
out with sufficient accuracy to absolutely insure 
their being entirely reliable, would be useless, 
and it would bo better for us to remain in our 
state of almost entire ignorance on the subject 
as at present than to (seek to build up any par¬ 
ticular theory by such means.—I am, sir, your 
obedient servant, Harey G. Green. 
Laverton House, Southampton. 
[We quite agree with Mr. Green that it is a 
great mistake to build up a fine theory on a very 
shadowy skeleton of fact.— Ed.] 
FISHING ON LOUGH CONN. 
Dear Sir, —Referring to Mr. Sack’s letter, 
I have just returned, with my son, from a ten 
days stay at Lough Conn Lodge, Cloghans, 
Ballina, and can fully endorse all that Mr. Sachs 
says respecting the comforts and attention which 
anglers will find who place themselves in the 
hands of Thomas Clarke and Sons. 
The proprietor, Tom Clarke (as he prefers to be 
called), is one of those typical, outspoken men 
who create an impression as soon as we come in 
contact with them. You judge him at once 
to be an honest, straightforward man upon whom 
you can rely. He is a model of industry, having 
his own hand in the building and enlargement 
of his place, which, as described by Mr. Sachs, is 
now capable of accommodating at least sixteen 
visitors. As we were leaving he was busy erect¬ 
ing an outbuilding to form a large general dining 
room which will, no doubt, be completed this 
summer. On behalf of myself and son, I must 
say we had most comfortable apartments, the best 
of good plain food (and plenty of it); while it is 
due to Mrs. Clarke, who superintended these 
affairs, to say that nothing could surpass her 
attention and desire to please us. 
As regards the fishing, I am sorry to say 
we were not so successful; the weather being too 
bright and wind nearly every day in the east or 
north-east quarter. 
We got three or four trout a day with the fly, 
but no salmon, though we fished hard with both 
fly and troll. We saw some salmon jump, and 
there are plenty of trout, pike, and perch; but, 
strange to say, no fish of any kind touched the 
artificial minnow, though we tried Phantoms and 
Devons of various sizes and colours between 
every drift. I landed two trouc (one of about 
31b.) with a small spoon, and that was all we did 
trolling. 
One day we fished the Moy with Jim Hearns, 
of Ballina, and hooked two kelts with fly, one of 
111b., the other of 61b. My boy, fishing with 
a grilse rod, had the big fish on for over an hour, 
and thought he had a fresh run salmon, only to 
be disappointed. The fishing, however, all round 
was pronounced to be decidedly bad. 
There is hope, nevertheless, that those who 
follow us will meet with good sport. I am told 
that June will prove a better time on the lake, if, 
as is to be expected, there comes a good fall of 
rain to swell the river and carry the many salmon 
which must be waiting to enter the lake. 
We were so delighted with Lough Conn, its 
charming scenery, the bracing air of the moun¬ 
tain and sea, together with the comforts W'e met 
at Tom Clarke’s, it will be a real pleasure to visit 
the place again, especially if we are in the right 
time for the fishing.—Yours faithfully, 
Croydon, April 19. James Callaghan. 
SHAD FISHING IN IRELAND. 
Dear Sir, —With reference to enquiries about 
shad fishing by one of your correspondents, I 
fear the following information will be of little 
assistance. Shad come up the tideway of the 
river Barrow as far as the lowest weir, which is 
thirty miles from open sea, and quite fresh 
water. The trouting at this point—that is the 
highest point of tidal influence—is very good, 
and the shad, when in the river, are a terrible 
nuisance, as they keep taking the trout fly. Last 
year they came up during latter half of May. I 
was wading out when suddenly they began to 
literaUy “rush around,’’ apparently spinning 
round in concentric circles, and making a terrific 
row on the surface. Men go into the river with nets 
to catch them to feed their pigs with, and, what 
with the noise of the shad and the shouting of 
the men, you are nearly deafened. The trout go 
down promptly, but if anyone has a taste for 
playing of shad he can have enough of it. Head¬ 
quarters would be Graiguenamanagh for the 
fishing at St. Mullens, three miles off. A mail- 
car ^ connects Graiguenamanagh with Borris 
station on G.S.W. Railway, Ireland. 
_ Old Novice. 
THE RIVER ESKE AND LOUGH ESKE, 
DONEGAL. 
Sir, —The River Eske which runs into the sea 
at this town, and Lough Eske which is situate 
about four miles from this, have been opened to 
the angling public by the lessee of Lord Arran’s 
fishery. The charge is half-a-crown a day, and 
tickets can be procured from the proprietor of the 
Arran Arms Hotel in this town, whether the 
applicant be a visitor at that hotel or resident 
elsewhere. 
The brown trout fishing commences on the 
1st of March, but the angler cannot rely on 
getting clean run sea-trout until the middle of 
May, nor clean run salmon until the month of 
June. 
The opening of this lake, which is only twelve 
minutes by rail from here, may prove of consider¬ 
able benefit, not only to this town but also to the 
village of Mount Charles, a well-known seaside 
bathing place about three miles from here. When 
the new railway station is opened at Mount 
Charles, it will be possible for the angler to have 
a dip in the sea in the morning, run up to Lough 
Eske after breakfast, before noon, and be home in 
time for dinner. 
At Mount Charles is a beautiful sheet of water, 
but I am informed that there are no fish in it. 
No doubt it will soon be stocked with trout. 
There are several trout streams within easy 
reach of Donegal, for instance, the Laghy within 
two miles, and tbe Ballantia river within five 
miles. The Ballantia river holds sea-trout and 
clean run salmon. When the railway between 
Donegal and Killybegs is opened, a number of 
nice streams, all of them containing brown trout, 
and some of them holding sea-trout and salmon, 
will be easily get-at-able by anglers residing at 
either Donegal or Mount Charles. 
_' Innis-Owen. 
LLYN DYWEINYDD. 
Sir, —For many years I have gone for my 
annual fishing excursion to Capel Curig, and I 
have generally met with fair sport; but what I 
am anxious to find out is how to obtain permission 
to fish Llyn Dyweinydd, the only really reserved 
lake in the district, and the best. If any of your 
correspondents could help me I should be greatly 
obliged.—Yours, &c.. Red Spinner. 
Llangollen, April 20. 
“PISON” FOR MIDGES, MOSQUITOES, 
AND SUCH SMALL DEER. 
Sir, —A fellow member of the F.F.C. gave me 
a recipe some years ago. I found it absolutely 
perfect to keep them off : 
Pyrethrum (fluid) mixed with glycerine, for 
application to the skin. It is not the least 
unpleasant. I got a bottle made up in Bond- 
street by a chemist. It sufficed to keep me from 
attacks during a season in Norway.—Yours, Ac., 
_ “Hi Regan.’’ 
GENUINE “HARRIS” TWEED WANTED. 
Sir, —Can any readers of your valuable paper 
inform me where I can buy genuine “ Harris ” 
tweed, i.e., hand made by the crofters of that 
island.—Yours, Ac., _ Angler. 
THE BROXBOURNE FISHERY ON THE 
LEA. 
Dear Sir, —Will you kindly state in your 
next issue that the Lea (Broxbourne) fishery will 
close on the 1st May this year, instead of on the 
15th as heretofore.—Yours truly, 
E. G. Beningeield. 
The Crown Hotel, Broxbourne Bridge, Herts. 
