418 
THE EISIIING GAZETTE 
[JrNE 3, 1893 
pike, perch, dace, chub, and bream, but the lake 
is very deep. X.B.—This does not matter if 
“ J. W.” uses a Nottingham slider float. I advise 
him to get a couple of sliders for dace, bream, 
&c., and barbel, from Theaker, 10, Canal-street, 
Nottingham; the latter would suit the lake to a 
T. Tie a small piece of thin silk (say half an 
inch) on the line the depth you wish to fish (say 
twenty yards), and the very small ring at the 
bottom of this excellent float will sfop the line at 
the distance on it mentioned above. As the fish 
are played and the line reeled in, the float slides 
down the line, hence “ slider.” Baits are easily 
procured. Use a No. 2 plait line for this float. 
The Diary says the best way of fishing is with a 
natural bait trailing from a boat with 600 yards 
or 600 yards of line out, a sort of “ whiffing ” on 
a large scale, I imagine. Large dace may be 
caught with fly along wooded side of the lake, 
and splendid perch round the shallow weedy bays. 
—I am, &c., M.\rke.u. 
KECIPE FOR BLEACHING A SILK LINE 
WANTED. 
Sutton’s Angling Association, 
8a, Hill-street, Reading, May 29. 
Sir, —Will you, or one of your numerous 
readers, kindly tell me how to lighten the colour 
of a line stained too deeply in one of the “Diamond 
(powder) Dyes,” viz., olive green, without injuring 
or rotting the silk ? Soaking in spirits of turpen¬ 
tine has failed.—I am, &c , 
Ri). Bowsiier, Hon. Sec. 
I’.S.—Are the proposed Conservancy Bye-laws 
likely to operate before next year.^ 
[Date will be announced.—Ei>.j 
HERRINGS IN THE DANUBE.—A BIG 
“ SILURIS.” 
Sir, —Every year during April, shoals of big 
herrings usually about |lb. in weight come up the 
Danube here, lOfl miles from the Black Sea by 
the river ; they are always in splendid condition, 
and I don’t fancy that they come to spawn as 
they have but little in them. I do not know much 
about sea fish, but fancy this an uncommon 
occurrence. At present the floods have spoilt all 
my fishing here. My usual grounds are all one 
great lake, the tops of the willows being all there 
is to be seen. 
The other day I saw a siluris in the market, 
and, measuring it with my stick, found on getting 
home it was 8ft. 2in. to the end of its tail. Not 
a nice gentleman to encounter while taking a 
bathe.—I am, &c.. Rook. 
Braila, Roumania. 
ARE THERE 20lb. TROUT IN THE 
THAMES? 
Sir, —Your reporter of last week’s meeting of 
the New Albion Piscatorial Society says our 
friend, J. P. W., believes there are—“that he has 
not the slightest doubt of it, and he had seen 
trout in the Thames, not once or twice, but fifty 
times, that he was satisfied would weigh 201b., if 
not more.” 
The “Jubilee trout” of 1887, caught in a 
flounder-net at Stroud-on-the-Green, weighed 
171b., and was replaced in the river at Towns 
End Hole, Kingston. The fish is supposed yet 
to be in that part of the Thames, and is said to 
have increased in size and weight. 
But it is a query if such abnormal Thames 
fario do grow larger. Have they not attained 
the zenitb of their prime, and then begin to 
decline and waste in weight ?—although fish some¬ 
times grow considerably after capture. 
For instance, the trout caught by Rush of 
Reading, April 24, 1880, weighed 161b. looz., and 
not 171b. 8oz., as your correspondent states ; also 
]\Ir. R. Faulkner’s (May 21, 1886) Moulsey trout 
weighed I-Ilb.,«oi 151b. lOoz. Both these fish have 
grown since they were caught. 
A trout weighing 101b. was taken by the late 
lilr. J. Forbes, of Ghertsey, early in March, 1877, 
at Laleham Ferry. This fish was marked by 
cutting a round hole through its tail, and then 
replaced in the river at Ghertsey weir. On 
August 26, 1878, I caught this trout again, when 
it had decreased to 8.\lb. Thus it had passed its 
zenith, and begun to waste in weight.—I am, 
&c., Alered Jarpixe. 
THE “IMPERIAL” GUP. 
Sir, —Finding in the angling press a notice to 
the effect that a competition for a silver cup and 
roach pole was about to take place—open to all 
club anglers—I decided to enter the lists and “ try 
my luck.” During the progress of the competi¬ 
tion (the weigh-in, I may mention, taking place 
at Mr. Reeves’, The Imperial Hotel, Southwark- 
street, S.E.), I was given to understand that other 
prizes were to be added (as more money had been 
subscribed). But upon the termination of the 
competition only two prizes (the cup and the 
roach pole) were forthcoming. Mr. Biggs was 
second with 245 points, and myself third with 261 
points. My object in inserting this in your valu¬ 
able paper is to advise competitors for the future 
to see at the start how many prizes are likely to 
be awarded, and not to be told (as I was) that 
“ I had to thank certain remarks made by com¬ 
petitors and others for the non-production of the 
prizes promised.” Promoters of prizes for “ the 
good of the bouse ” should in future be careful to 
consider the interests of those who do the work, 
in the way of spending their time and money in 
returning to the house appointed for the weigh-in, 
and they would no doubt be thought more highly 
of than were the late promoters of the “ Imperial ” 
cup.—I am, &c.,_R. H. Morris. 
MAY-FLY ON LOUGH SHEELAN. 
Sir, —Recalling an account of three weeks’ 
fishing on Lough Sheelan, published some few 
weeks ago in the Field, by “ Salmo Ferox,” I 
send the record of my experience on that lake for 
this year, with a view of pointing out to any of 
your readers who may contemplate trying their 
luck with the Green Drake on the Westmeath 
lakes in future seasons, the patience required for 
the one in question. I fished with two other rods 
for thirteen days, during which our sport was 
practically uninterrupted by the weather, -which 
was exceptionally favourable for dapping, and 
our total catch was thirty-seven fish, weight 
73Alb., or just an average of 21b. Allowing two 
rises for every fish caught—which was about the 
proportion—you will see that the excitement was 
not intense. I was the most fortunate, my share 
of the bag being eighteen. The heaviest fish 
caught was 4|Ib., though w'e saw several rise, and 
hooked two or three, evidently much larger. We 
had an amusing experience the last evening of 
our stay. My wife, who was of our party, was 
suddenly struck with the idea that she would 
like to try her hand; so, borrowing a rod, she 
put on a dap of three flies in the most un¬ 
orthodox manner, the lure when on the water 
presenting the appearance of a small star fish. 
There were several large fish rising, evidently at 
the spent gnat, for the boatman and I having 
covered one of these rises with two daps which 
should have tempted any- “ decent mannered ” 
fish, Falmo ferox passed them by in contempt, 
and, with true Irish gallantry, seized the lady’s 
bait with a fearful splash. She remembering my 
instructions about striking, not only struck once 
but three times. The result can be imagined. 
The breakage of a cast strong enough to hang a 
dog, and a muttered expression from the writer 
about the cussedness of fish in general, and Irish 
Home Rule fish in particular.—I am, &c.. 
Keep Your Eye on A"our Dap. 
A BIG YORKSHIRE TROUT. 
Sir, —A correspondent sends me the following 
dimensions of a big trout caught on May 15 
in a “dub” near Kisdon Force, in Upper 
Svvaledale, by Mr. Joseph Harker, a local angler 
—length 26in,, weight 4:ilb., and measurement 
from lip to lip with extended jaws JJin. 
To the best of my knowledge this is the largest 
trout taken this season in Yorkshire, and Mr. 
Harker is to be congratulated. A man may fish 
the Swale “ till the cows come home,” or until 
he is as old as King Lear, without getting into 
such a big ’un as this monster.—I am, &c , 
W. Garter Peatts. 
Halifax, May 30, 1893. 
GAIL’S FISH PASS. 
Sir, —Gan any of your readers tell me if this 
fish pass has been successfully used in Great 
Britain or Ireland, and if so where ?—I am, &c., 
De.vl. 
“RED PALMER.” 
Sir, —For nearly thirty years I have corre¬ 
sponded with the sporting papers (yours and 
others) occasionally under the above nom-de- 
flume, and have, as you know, written a book 
with that title, two editions of which have been 
sold out. I have noticed lately that some other 
person signs himself in the same manner, and it 
is misleading. 
A gentleman wrote me last week about a testi¬ 
monial I was supposed to have given Mr. James 
Ogden, of Gheltenham, in favour of a rod. As 
I know nothing of Mr. Ogden I could not 
understand the matter, but it now ap]iears the 
testimonial was given by the other “ Red 
Palmer.” As I had already given a testi¬ 
monial to Messrs. Ogden and Scotford, commend¬ 
ing a Multura in Parvo rod they made for me, it 
would almost a])pear that the adoption of the 
nom-de-plume is not done inadvertently.—I am, 
&c, James 'Tayler. 
65, Hazelville-road, Hornsey Rise, N., May 61. 
A ROAGH TAKES A SPINNING BAIT. 
Sir, —I write to tell you of what I consider a 
most curious thing that happened to me whilst 
spinning with an artificial bait in the Thames at 
Hampton, on Monday. I hooked and landed a 
roach of about |lb. weight. The fish was hooked 
on the tail triangle, which was completely in its 
mouth and well “ home ” in both jaws. 
The bait was about the size of a small bleak. 
There is not the slightest doubt that the fish 
was a roach, not a chub.—I am, Ac., 
17, Keith-grove, Geo. Walker. 
Shepherd’s Bush, W., 
May 31,1893. 
[It is very unusual for roach to take a spin¬ 
ning bait. Some years ago Major Turle’s son 
killed a big roach in this way when spinning for 
pike.— Ed.] _ 
ANOTHER FISHING FOX TERRIER. 
Dear Mr. Marston. —In the year 1886 I was 
down in Oxfordshire, and heard the sentence of 
death pronounced on a grandly bred fox terrier 
just two years old, who, perfect in manners and 
pluck, had developed a vice—.a most serious one 
on a strictly preserved game estate—the vice of 
“ hunting.” 
Something in the mute appealing eyes, some¬ 
thing in the half-starved and poor condition—the 
result of the gamekeepers’ “ art of training,” 
consisting, as far as I know, of blows and starva¬ 
tion—touched a spot in my heart (already too 
tender where dumb animals are concerned), and 
I pleaded for his life—granted tome on condition 
that I would take him away for ever. 
I rather flatter myself on my management of 
dogs, my treatment being kindness, patience, 
and firm determination. With the case I men¬ 
tion I have more than reason to be proud, the 
incorrigible brute of 1886 is now, and always has 
been, of rare intelligence, and one of the most 
faithful canine friends any man could desire. 
On all my fishing expeditions he is my constant 
companion, intent on the float as it rests on the 
water, excited as each ball of ground bait goes in. 
I alway thought he was interested in my sport, 
whereas it appears he has been learning wrinkles 
for himself, and now, being proficient, he fishes 
for himself, as is so truthfully described by Mr. 
Lely in his letter to you last Saturday. 
During the last four years I have lived two 
summers at the Weir Hotel, Sunbury, and two 
years here, and I always thought that his attrac¬ 
tion at the weirs was rats, but I now find it 
to be fish. 
Like Mr. Lely, I considered the circumstance 
somewhat peculiar, and wonder whether any of 
your readers have met with a like instance. 
As soon as the new bye-laws are passed, I shall 
teach him to observe the fence months; in the 
meantime I shall use ray personal influence with 
the conservators to look lightly on his offence of 
fishing in close time in consideration of his long 
and faithful service to me.—Yours truly, 
Hy. Heath, Jun., 
Richmond Piscatorial Society. 
Riveria, East Molesey. 
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