432 
TTTE ETSIITXG GAZETTE 
[Jt'nk 10, 1893 
f-Tnashed of cour.-c. One fine fish directly I 
liooked him took-a pei’p iidionlar dive, and then 
turned in under one of the hi^ lumps of earth 
.■just referred to. in some clever manner leaving 
the fly sticking in the earth. 
Air. Payton had to leave bi fore the fish began 
to take in earnest, but he killed some nice fish, 
as also did the “Amateur Angler” and Air. 
Yarde. 1 had my share. 
I have to thank Air. C E. Fry for kindly send¬ 
ing me some photos of Alay-flies. of whi. h T give 
a few reproductions. R. B. AIakstox. 
ALL 
THESE I’HIXGS 
AGAINST MK” 
ARE 
By R. N. 
Tins was said by some one a long time ago, 
and doubtle s most of us have felt it to be 
applicable to our own case at times. To-day 
these words have been persistently 
running in my head. 
To begin with, I specially wanted 
a trout of about 21b. to give awa)’, 
and that is very decidedly against 
getting one. 
The morning was bright and 
sunny, but there was an ominous 
flicker of the shadows made by the 
rose leaves on the blind of my 
bedroom window which betokened 
an cast vi ind. 
'I'hen, when I came down to break¬ 
fast, trie flies and fine gut casts I 
had carelully ordered two days ago 
had not arrived by the morning 
post. This entailed a visit to the 
local ironmonger’s, where 1 -was 
able to obtain a substitute for the 
flies, and a cast I could not feel 
certain of There was one thing 
certain, and that was the east wind. 
This was causing the dust to tly 
about in a most unpleasant way. 
On meeting m.y brother at 
Romsey station, things certainly 
seemed a little brighter. A mutual 
pipe ard chat over A’al Conson’s 
delightful article on the AVIdt- 
church Dun in the Fishing Gazette 
(which somehow made one feel more 
sanguine, but lament not having 
many of the subtle patterns de¬ 
scribed therein) pleasantly passes 
the short time to our destii ation. 
Over ibe main river (where some 
grand fish were rising) we were 
soon in sight of our bit of water, 
and also, with the evil speed of bad 
news, alive to the fact that weeds 
were coming down 1 T have seen 
floating islands on the River Congo, 
but, comparing the relative size of 
the rivers, these floating islands 
were not to be compared to the 
masses of weeds coming down our 
stream. 
Cheering my brother up with the 
fact that being Saturday probably 
the weed cutters would finish by noon (this 
proved a false hope), we wandered down to the 
extreme limit and most sheltered part of the 
river, and there somewhat disconsolately put our 
rods together. 
Nothing rising and an almost embarrassing 
choice of flies—a few Grannom on the water, and 
amongst the grass I captured an Alder, two Iron 
Blue Duns, also some specimens of the Yellow 
Dun. 
A\ eary with watching the continual stream of 
floating weeds, I planted a camp-stool under the 
shade of some Scotch firs. Here the river ran 
broad and deep, breaking into rapids just below', 
and a rather sharp bend some 40 yards above sent 
the weeds over to the opposite bank when the 
wind did not blow them on to my lee shore. 
About noon a fish rose some 12 yards above 
where I was sitting. 
Down on my knee, with a shelter of sword-grass 
in front, a fir tree over head, and higher grass 
behind, with a gusty wind on my right hand, I 
started to throw' a Grannom over that fish. 
He was ri.sing well, but not steadily in one 
place—first under the bank, then in mid-stream 
among the floating weeds, again bej'ond this 
boundarj'. Aly fly I found following much the 
same course; when the wind lulled it was easy 
work save for picking up the straggling weeds 
every cast, but the gusts took the fly over very 
nearly as wide an area as the fish w'as feeding 
in, but it never seemed to be in the exact spot he 
last rose in The fish also appeared to me to be 
varying his diet. I tried to follow his vagaries 
as w'ell as the oircumstaneos would permit, now 
showing him an Iron Blue, then a Light Olive, 
again a dark and a light Grannom, but all in 
vain. After about half-an-hour this, the only 
rising fish, loft off. 
So there was nothing for it but lunch; even 
this was not quite to my mind, being, by a com¬ 
bination of circumstances which are immaterial, 
composed of food which a Alahometan would 
have refused, I was barely half way through 
when up came the fish again with t'vo or three 
really business-like rises, and, as it never does to 
The ironmonger’s cast stood the test nobly, as 
there was fully a pound dead weight of weeds on 
the line before the fish was in the net. The 
Grannom was fixed far back in the side of the 
throat. 
There is no moral in all this, unless, perhaps, 
it is that sometimes you get what you want 
although all things are against you—I w’anted 
that fish, and got him. 
I forget what the other man did Lng ago. 
l^ates anlj Queries 
AVe much regret that in the hurry of getting 
to press last week the words “ wholesale and 
retail" occurred in connection with the adver¬ 
tisement of Messrs. Allcock and (.lo This was, of 
course, a mistake, as they do no retail business. 
AIr. John Kers.s, one of the be.=^t professional 
salmon fishermen of Scotland, is at 
the Welsh Harp, Hendon, giving 
lessons in salmon fly ca-ting. 
In the top figure the May-fly i.s photographed just as it is emerging from the shuck, 
i.e., the skin or covering of its creeper state. 
We are .glad to hear that the 
Stour Fishery Protection Associa¬ 
tion is doing very well this season. 
Air. J. C. Nash, the hon. sec., writes : 
*' You will be glad to hear that 
excellent sport has been bad on our 
water this season. The old Stour 
still continues to supply a fine 
volume of water, it, in fact, sur¬ 
prises u.s all. I have had a few 
new members this season, all of 
whom are simply delighted with the 
wafer and the prospect. I have 
succeeded beyond all jirevious ex¬ 
perience with my fry this season, 
they are now mostly minnow size 
and in good strength and health. 
A veteran fidicrman. Col. F., who 
has this jear taken a house about 
a dozen miDs from lure (at the 
seaside), has had some capital sport 
on our water. On the Isc Alay, the 
opening day. he killed four brace, 
returned ten brace, and declared he 
rose and booked quite fifty fish, and 
he a stranger to the water. Three 
and four brace are frequent'y taken 
now. 1 am looking forward to a 
visit from j'ou.—Yours truly, F. C. 
Na-h, 3, Parade, Canterbury.” 
AI AY-FLIES. 
(Phutogra; hed by Mr. C. E. Fry.) 
feed at the same time as the trout, T started again 
on him with a darkish Grannom, as I found this 
fly showed fairly well amongst the weeds and 
wind-rutiled surface. Once he came at the fly, 
showing his head sidew'ays, and I almost fancied 
I saw his eye ; then two minutes elajised without 
a rise. 
Then, as my fly was floating down, and over 
where he most frequently rose, up he came and 
took it gently as if he had been waiting for that 
particular fly all day. 
1 like the steady rush cf a fish hooked in deep 
water, and it gives one time to take in all ihe 
bearings of dangers, <i'C. 1 should have liked to 
have kept this fish in the deeps, but after a deter¬ 
mined run up stream, he started off down, and 
was soon in the rapids below; here I was obliged 
to put a fair strain on him to prevent his getting 
lower, as there are some awkward sunken stumps 
in the tail of those rapids. After a few minutes’ 
play here my brother arrived on the setne, and 
cleverly netted the fish for me. 
A handsome short, thick-set fish weighing 
Hb. 14oz. 
a salm n (Apb.) and two 
all with the s me bait. 
The “ Sekpentanic ” as an All- 
ROi'ND Bait. —Amongst the many 
unsolicited testimonials Messrs. 
Wm. Bartleet and Sons have 
received respecting this bait, Alajor- 
General Alex. D. Clay writes to 
them as folljws from Ireland :—“ I 
have given one of your ‘ Serpen- 
tanic ’ baits a good trial here, and I 
think you may be pleased to have 
a report on the bait. I took one 
day a pike of fiRb., a salmon just 
under 121b., and a grand trout of 
41b. 13oz.; also on another day. 
trout (fl^lb. and Iflb.), 
AIr. William White, of Rodono Hotel, St. 
Alarm’s Loch, Selkirk, writes: “Dear Sir,—We 
have taken the George Hotel, Stanley, Perth¬ 
shire, the property of Col. Stewart Saiideman. 
'I’here i.s a splendid reach of salmon fishing, 
which will be let in connection with the hotel. 
The George Hotel is an old licensed place, but 
has hitherto lacked accommodation. This has 
been a much-l’elt want in the district, more 
especially for the gentlemen who have had 'he 
salmoi fishing-!. Col. Sandeman has arranged 
to enlarge and modertjise the hotel. An addition 
of eight or Icn bedrooms is to be made, as also 
smoking-room, lavatories. Ac., the intention 
being to make the place a first-class hotel. Your 
subscriber of the past six years has been selected 
to initiate this business to the angling and tourist 
gentlemen and families, and he is hopeful, when 
once the improvements are made, that a new 
field, in a sense, will be opened to the travelling 
public.” 
