Mat 20, 1893] 
MORE RUDD FOR THE RIVER LEA. 
^ Deak Mr. Marston, —I have the pleasure to 
inform you that at our delegate meeting last 
evening I was directed to convey to you a very 
hearty vote of thanks for your very kind gift of 
a second consignment of rudd for the River Lea, 
which I am pleased to inform you I received 
quite safe, and turned into the river at Rye 
House, losing only a few in consequence of it 
being a hot day. The fish were all turned into 
the river before two o’clock.—Yours truly, 
___ R. Ghueney, sec. 
EASTER AT “ THE LION,” FARNINGHAM. 
Dear Sir, —Your correspondent *■ Quill Gnat ” 
^ys in your issue of May 6, relative to the 
Easter fishing at Earningham, that he caught 
‘twelve perch weighing ISJlb., all with the Yellow 
Dun, in the Lion water. 
A friend of mine, who fished the Darenth for 
forty years, tells me there are no perch in the 
Farningham or Eynsford portion of that stream ; 
^ also that perch never rise to artificial flies; but 
possibly may occasionally take a sunk “ Alexan¬ 
dra, ’ or large “ Silver AVickham.” With the 
last-mentioned fly my friend once caught a perch 
m the Craig at Bexley Milltail. I think the late 
Mr. Francis Francis records a similar instance in 
his experience of fly-fishing.—I am, yours truly, 
„ T. AVarren. 
Coventry-street, Piccadilly, W.. May 10, 1893. 
[Perch was evidently a misprint for trout.— Ed.] 
ANGLERS AND ANGLING ADVERTISE¬ 
MENTS. 
Sir,—F ishing has such agreat fascination for me, 
and rny regard for fishermen is so strong, that it 
is painful for me to have to utter a word of com¬ 
plaint against any of the craft. 
For years past I have been in the habit of 
advertising in several of the fashionable sporting 
papers fishing of various kinds, and it is no 
uncommon thing for me to receive almost by each 
post during the season letters asking for “full 
particulars about the extent of water, number, 
and weight of fish captured, best time to come) 
fishermen’s wages, shortest route, best flies, &c., 
to use, terms for board and apartments, and how 
far from the river; whether a church, post-oflice, 
telegraph, and railway station near, and sundry 
other queries. 
Now, it is no easy task to answer so many 
questions from each applicant, to say nothing of 
the cost of advertising, telegrams, stationery, and 
postage. 
AFhat I complain of, then, is that after all this 
trouble and expense some people never send a 
This is most unfair, and displays a great want 
of courtesy. A post card with the simple words 
“Fishing, &c., not suitable” written thereon 
would be some acknowledgment of one’s letters. 
_ Advertiser. 
A SALMON ANGLING QUERY. 
Sir, —There is nothing ruins the firmness of 
the flesh of a salmon more than carrying it on 
a string or in a bag. As soon as the fish is 
knocked on the head, sever the artery under the 
gills, or cut the gills right through, hold the fish 
head down in water till the blood is all run out, 
place it in a fish basket and pack with rushes so 
that it cannot get knocked about. To crimp a 
salmon, proceed as follows ; Kill the fish imme¬ 
diately it is landed, rip the belly open for about 
six or eight inches, leaving the throat intact, 
remove the entrails and the gills, wash clean 
from blood, then lay the fish on a hard and even 
surface, and with a long thin-bladed knife cut the 
thick of the flesh to the bone, each cut to be 
about 21 inches apart, commencing at the head ; 
repeat the operation on the opposite side, seeing 
that the cuts almost meet each other, now 
immerse in clean running water for about twenty 
minutes, or until the flesh contracts, hang in the 
shade to drip, wrap in clean paper or cloth, and 
place the fish in the basket. Apart, however, 
from bleeding or crimping, a good fat salmon 
will keep firm a long time if let alone, every 
time it is handled or moved helps to soften it. 
I am glad your correspondent has raised this 
question; many anglers are careless how their fish 
are handled after being caught. Gillies are 
careless because it saves trouble.—Yours, &c., 
Halkirk, May 15,1893. A. Harper. 
THE EISHING GAZETTE 
A FIRST-RATE MARCH BROWN—A GOOD 
WORD FOR WALES. 
My Dear Sir, —You may possibly recollect my 
sending you some March Browns from Totnes, a 
year or two ago. I now send you a pattern which, 
after much testing on several waters, stands 
decidedly first among patterns in my book, and 
very high amongst all flies I ever use, even in low 
water and bright sun. Dressed 0 and 00 it kills 
in the summer, especially if with one turn of gold 
at tail. Wing may also be dark (hen silver 
pheasant is best). 
The fly has done well jlately, getting me fair 
quantities of good-sized fish, even in very low 
water and bright sun. 
It may be of service to fishermen and their 
^untry-loving friends if you note that Rhiwaedog 
Hall, near Bala, is now open, under new manage¬ 
ment, and with good lengths of fishing attached, 
one capital rocky stream, Hirnant, being reserved 
entirely for Rhiwaedog, and plenty of water 
available on Dee and Tryweryn. Bala Lake is 
about twenty minutes’ walk from the house, and 
the hostess is placing a boat on it. Abundant 
lake, river, and stream fishing is easily 
accessible. Corwen, Arenig, Dolgelly. Festiniog, 
and many other fishing places being within easy 
run of Bala. The house is an ancient country 
house, massively built, and abounding in black 
oak. It stands on the hillside above the Hirnant, 
and well away from the public road. The charges 
are moderate, the catering good, and the house 
very roomy and comfortable. Not being a 
licensed house it is thoroughly private and quiet, 
well suited for ladies and children as well as for 
Piscator himself. The surroundings of woodland, 
hill, and moor, and the abundance of wild flowers 
and interesting birds and beasts—by the latter I 
don t sirnply mean chickens and mountain mutton 
make it a pleasant abode even in the intensely 
fine weather, which is so afflicting to fishermen. 
I have wandered to several places, but this is far 
the pleasantest I have tried, and one can get 
some fish even in the worst weather. It is the 
perfection of a place for any but those who like 
their “ country ” to have a strong flavour of town. 
I have, of course, no interest in recommend¬ 
ing the place, only I do not find it always easy to 
discover comfort, pleasant surroundings, and 
good fishing on extremely moderate terms. 
Roberts, the Bala tackle dealer, is reliable for 
information, and has a strange fondness for being 
up to date with his tackle, and plenty of hints as 
to fish and flies can be got from keepers and 
others living close to Rhiwaedog. 
Bala Lake seems to have some very heavy trout 
with very keen wits. They show in the May-fly 
season, but no one seems to work the blow line; 
and they seein in good condition in February, and 
apt to take pike baits, but very hard to get in the 
summer, except on very fine spinning tackle, 
which they smash. Some one skilled in ferox 
fishing ought to account for some 101b. or 121b. 
fish. Possibly steel traces might solve the 
difficult}^—Yours faithfully, S. E. R. 
[The March Brown is an excellent pattern.— 
Ed.] 
THAT LOST FLY-BOX. 
Dear Mr. Marston, —Some weeks back you 
were kind enough to give insertion to a letter of 
mine, announcing the loss of my fly-box in a 
train. As my fellow passenger, to whom the fly- 
box was handed, told me that he was a member 
of the Kennet Angling Club, and a native of 
Newbury, I wrote to the hon. secretary of that 
club and described both the Newbury man and 
his son a youth of twelve or fourteen. This 
was a month ago, and although my letter has not 
been returned, I have received no reply. That 
my box of flies was left on the seat immediately 
m front of the Newbury man, and by the side of 
his son, is open to no doubt. The value of the 
box and its contents would not be great intrinsi¬ 
cally (about a gross of eyed flies), but it contained 
my killing patterns, and these are, to me, above 
price and cannot be replaced. Can any of your 
readers tell me if there is a Kennet Anglincr 
Club, and if so who is the secretary ? ” 
Bromley, Kent. C. W. Gedxev. 
A GRIEVANCE. 
Dear Sir, —It would be doing me a favour if you 
would kindly air my grievance in your paper. 
I was staying at a fishing hotel last month, 
where one had to pay a fairly good sum to be 
driven to any of the best lochs, and the gillie had 
to walk to the hotel in the morning, then to the 
loch, row all day, and walk borne again. 
On several occasions when there was a seat 
vacant in the trap I told the gillie to jump up and 
take a lift home. Now when, for instance, there 
were two fishermen in the trap beside the driver, 
the landlord got 10s. for the day, and though we 
merely utilised what would have been a vacant 
seat on the way home, yet 2s. 6d. was charged for 
giving the gillie a lift. I consider this a bad 
principle, and certainly others have agreed with 
me. I would suggest that the landlord keep a 
donkey or Shetland pony or something, and in 
case of long distances, let the gillies come home at 
their leisure, and there should, to my mind, be no 
charge for it. It will not do, I venture to think, 
for landlords to try and squeeze too much. The 
last straw, Mr. Editor, we know of old, proved 
fatal. Fishermen’s pockets, like camel’s backs, 
will only stand a certain strain. Aggrieved. 
Glasgow. 
THE HYTHE CANAL. 
Dear Sir,— In your editorial note, re Hythe 
Canal, you have omitted bream—they are very 
plentiful, especially near the town. A 2Ib. fish 
is the largest I have taken. Ha.ve you heard of 
any perch being there ? I have not seen one in 
two years. The roach, or hybrids some say they 
are, run very small; but there are some very 
fair tench — best place, second or third bend 
above the bridges. I had one 2flb. last year, and 
saw some good jack towards Sandgate, about 
the same time—August. 
The great drawbacks to the fishing are shallow 
water, and a tremendous quantity of weed 
(Anacharis), which wants clearing out badly — 
Yours very truly, A. W. Wavering. 
[We mentioned perch as we understood they 
had been put in of late years in some quanti¬ 
ties.—E d.] 
Dear Sir, —In reply to a subscriber, I have been 
informed : (I) That the price of tickets has been 
increased from 5s. to 123. 6d. per month, and 
daily tickets in a corresponding ratio ; (2) Ducks 
and swans are permitted to feed on the spawn 
galore; (3) Weed cutting is being performed in 
spawning time; and (4) Steam and electrical 
launches (flat bottomed) are about to be put on 
the canal. If all this be true it will about settle 
the canal for angling purposes, but I hope to 
hear it contradicted.—I am, &c., 
_ Old Angler. 
LOW STATE OF THE RIVER WEAR. 
Dear Mr. Marston,— The River Wear has 
never been known to be so low for years as it now 
is. I walked from West Mdl Dam up to the 
village of Escomb last evening (Sunday). It is 
principally dead water. There were thousands 
of small trout flinging themselves out and rising 
with an occasional heavy fish. The surface in 
some places appeared as though heavy rain was 
falling. I have never in my experience seen such 
a sight before. W. J. Cummins. 
Bishop Auckland, May 1.5, 1893. 
THE “HAMPSHIRE TROUT” PICTURE 
GIVEN LAST WEEK WITH THE FISH¬ 
ING GAZETTE. 
De.ar Mr. Editor,— The picture of the “Hamp¬ 
shire Trout ” given with last week’s number is 
excellent, but don’t you think it would give 
greater satisfaction to possessors of pictures of 
fish, if there were something in the picture to give 
an idea of the size of the fish? For instance, in 
the “ Hampshire Trout ” there is a landing 
net. Now, if the diameter of the net were 
given, an idea of the size of the fish could be 
easily formed. The net -would act as a kind of 
scale. 
I thought of suggesting that a foot rule should 
be placed near the fish and included in the 
picture, but this would perhaps detract from the 
beauty of the picture. Trusting I may be ex¬ 
cused for trespassing on your time.—I remain, 
yours sincerely, -yV. J. T. 
Blackburn. 
[We have no doubt the artist will see this 
suggestion.—E d.] 
