442 
THE FISHING GAZETTE 
[June 10, 1893 
BOOKS REVIEWED. 
“The Bheech-Loader and How to Use it.” 
By W. W. Greener (an authority of no mean 
repute), is published at the popular price of 2s., 
by Messrs. Cassell and Company, Limited. It is 
■well printed, and the illustrations with which it 
abounds are as acceptable to the expert as to 
the amateur. To those who delight in a day’s 
shooting' but have neither the time nor the 
means to make the sport a life’s study, this 
smartly-written work will serve as a general 
handbook on game and shooting. In addition 
to the author’s experiences, there are introduced 
remarks and styles of some of the best authori¬ 
ties on guns and shooting in the world. All who 
look to the gun for pleasure, health, or occupa¬ 
tion, should hasten to add “The Breech-loader 
and How to Use it,” to their libraries. 
“The Si’ortsm.an’s and Tol'ii].st Guide” to the 
rivers, lochs, moors, and deer forests of Scotland 
(edited by J. Watson Lyall) is to hand, and is 
replete with every information that can be desired 
by sportsmen. The price is one shilling; it is 
published monthly (from May to October); and 
this is its twenty-first year of publication. The 
work, which consists of over 500 pages, also con¬ 
tains a railway map of England, and a beautifully 
coloured map of Scotland. It is indexed so that 
reference can readily be made to hotels, places of 
interest mentioned in the “Guide,” railway 
stations, lochs, rivers, free and open fishings in 
Scotland, fishing quarters, proprietors of shoot¬ 
ings, steamers, coaches, Ac. The shooting section 
is arranged alphabetically, so that it is an index 
to itself. Every sportsman should possess a copy 
of this admirable guide, which is published at 118, 
Pall Mall, Loudon. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
T. H. — The best time for fly-fishing in a stream 
which gets coloured by rain is when the water is 
clearing and going down. A brown sherry colour 
is good. 
J. D. F.—Why not try Altnacealgach. 
Cormjjonirmc 
[TFe do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions 
expressed by our Correspondents .] 
" One of the charms of angling is that it presents an 
endless field for argument , speculation , and experi ¬ 
ment .” —T. E. Pritt. 
“SILVER DOCTOR’S” MAY-FLY 
EXPERIENCES. 
Sir, —My experience with the May-fly this 
season coincides very much with that of Mr. 
Gedney’s. I cannot make out what has come 
over the big trout for the last two years. They 
do not appear to care for this fly as formerly ; 
they will not look at it, natural or artificial. The 
Gera, a killing fly three years ago, did not move 
a fish, and the Clarke, beautifully sailing over, 
literally sent them flying down the stream. The 
smaller fish, i.e., those from fib. to 11b,, took a 
small May-fly—tied by Mrs. Brocas—fairly well. 
All these were put back, but I only killed two 
killable fish—one 21b. 15oz., and the other 21b.— 
with the May-fly in the two days’ fishing. The 
first was, I think, as much a surprise to the fish 
as well as to myself. I saw him move close to 
the bank, and. as luck would have it, the fly fell 
on a blade of grass and then on the water close 
to his nose, and he took it at once, and very good 
sport he gave me. I went on .ste.adily for some 
time, throwing over the big fish I could see (for 
the water was as clear as gin) lying near the 
surface, evidently looking out for something to 
eat, without the slightest effect; so I changed 
my fly to a small nondescript, something like the 
Artful Dodger, and with that and a dark-winged 
Sedge I killed eight fish, weighing, with the two 
killed with the May-fly, 181b. lloz. The next 
day was hot and thundery, with not a breath 
of wind. There was more fly on the water, but 
the fish were behaving just as badly. I did not 
see a single large fish take a May-ily; but with 
the same flics as on the previous diiy 1 killed 
four fish, weighing 81b. t'oz., the largest just 
turning the scale at fllb. The smaller fish were 
taking “ the fly ” fairly well, and I put back some 
eight or ten. I was quite contented with my 
basket of fourteen fish, of the aggregate weight 
of 271b. 4oz ; but not satisfied as regard.s the 
May-fly. I took all my fish with the wet fly.—I 
am, &c., Silver Doctor. 
[We are delighted to see that the author of 
“ Recollections of Angling for Salmon, Trout, 
and Grayling” has been having good sport this 
very curious May-fly season.— Ed ] 
THE MAY-FLY UN THE STOUR. 
Captain G. L. Austin, hon. secretary of the 
Stour Fishery Association, writes; Dear Marston, 
—I have not the pen of a ready writer or I would 
send you an account of the May-fly season, like 
Byron’s epitaph on his dog, “ not what he was, 
but what he should have been.” In fact, I was 
done out of the fly this year. It came this 
season nearly ten days before it ought to have 
come, and I was playing golf and missed it. I 
had only one day, and only killed a brace and a 
half, but I heard that the members had very 
fair sport—one man killed fifteen brace in three 
days, all very good fish. The May-fly has been 
very peculiar this year, one day a good show, the 
next none at all. There was no fly at all this 
last week, and we all thought it was all over, but 
the keeper told me that on Friday afternoon 
there was as much out as on any day this season ; 
it came on about 4 p.m. This long dry spring 
has been very bad for the fish; I have lost all my 
fry, and the fish in the river have done nothing 
—the great flood in February swept away a lot 
of their food, many parts of the river-bed being 
like a clean gravel path. I am glad you had 
some good sport. I am sorry I cannot write you 
a better account, but I really know nothing about 
it.—I am, &c., G. L. Austin. 
June 4, 1893. _ 
WHAT IS THE WEIGHT OF THE 
HEAVIEST BASS ? 
Sir,—W hat is the largest (authenticated) bass 
you have heard of—I mean our sea bass, com¬ 
monly called salmon bass ? I am making 
inquiries in all parts to find out this.—I am, 
&c., W. Hearder. 
The Hoe, Plymouth. 
PISHING AT GEFN. 
Sir, —Will one of your readers kindly inform 
me in your next issue whether fishing is to be had 
at Gefn, North Wales ; if so, where I could pro¬ 
cure tickets for same.^—I am, &c.. Black Gnat. 
30, Chapel-street, Salford, June 5,1893. 
FISHING AT LLANDUDNO. 
Sir, —Will you or one of your numerous readers 
of the Fishing Gazette kindly inform me what 
sort of fishing there is to be had at Llandudno 
both sea and fresh water.—I am, &c., 
Cecil Firmin. 
P.S.—I shall most likely be there about the 
middle of this month. 
SLAUGHTER OF A GOLDEN EAGLE. 
Sir, —I regret to see in Scotch Notes an 
account of the slaughter of a golden eagle by 
a gamekeeper in Sutherland shire. No wonder 
they are, as your correspondent calls them, “now 
rare,” when that is the way they are mostly 
killed. It is a pity, to my mind, that more 
landowners do not act as some do, and forbid 
their keepers killing any rare birds. A. 
[“ A.’s ” views on this matter are the same as 
those we have often expressed. When the last 
pair of breeding salmon are seen in our country, 
some “sportsman” will write to say he has killed 
them.— Ed,] _ 
TROUT FISHING NEAR PLYMOUTH. 
Sir, —Will some of your readers who know 
the Plymouth district kindly say if fair trout 
fishing is likely to be had at or near Plymouth 
during a fortnight’s holiday in July?—I am, &c., 
C. Moffat. 
68, Lansdowne-road, Tottenham. 
[The Tavy and Plym Fishery Board grant 
tickets for Meavy and Cad. The Plym is all 
private. Eight miles down the Tamar is the 
Holdsworthy water (fishing free).— Ed.]. 
LAZY TROUT FISHING. 
Sir, —I have had very fair sport on Lough 
Melvin last week, with both Gillaroo and Son- 
naghan trout. 
'i’he modus operandi is as follows : I have a 
small boat, about sixteen feet long on the keel, 
rigged with foresail and sprit or spreed sail. 1 
triil a cast of Michael Rogan’s flies with a rod and 
a length of t venty-five yards of fine line behind 
the boat. 
When a fish hooks on I down helm, haul fore¬ 
sheet to windward, and get trout on board as 
quickly as possible, then let draw weather fore¬ 
sheet, and go look for another. This enables you 
to do four things almost at one and the same 
time, viz , sail a boat, read a book, smoke a pipe, 
and kill a trout. _ Innis-Owen. 
LARGE BROOK TROUT. 
8ir, —I should like to call your attention to a 
discussion going on here re a large trout shot at 
Congresbury, about twelve miles ffom here, on 
May 17, and shown in a shop in Bristol as a 
common brook trout. 
If it would not be troubling you too much, 
would you kindly look in at Cooper’s, or allow 
one of your stall' who is a competent judge to do 
so, as the fi-fh was sent there to be preserved. 
The weight of same was.l3]lb., and the stream it 
was shot in was an ordinary brook, having one 
weir to fall over and then running direct, for 
about three or four miles at most, into the 
Bristol Channel; and as at flood time, like we 
had here in February and early March, the water 
was nearly level with weir, the contention is 
that if said fish is not a salmon, it is a migratory 
trout and not a Salmo fario, as, with the stream 
fished regularly every day for years, it would 
almost have been impossible for a fish to grow to 
this size_ in a large river, and yet this stream 
could be jumped over easily, and the fish was not 
seen until the day it was shot. I have been a 
regular subscriber to your Gazette since it 
first started, and have seen some strange ideas 
upset, and am of opinion that the idea of this 
fish being a brook trout is another of them.— 
I am, &c., W. H. Curtis. 
Horfield, Bristol, June 5,1893. 
[Very likely Mr. Cooper will send it to us to 
see, if requested to do so.— Ed.] 
A USEFUL PLANT WANTED. 
Sir,—I n your issue of the 27th ult. I perceive, 
by your editorial note, that you should “ like to 
get some information about that plant.” 
Possibly your correspondent refers to the well- 
known American weed which lines a considerable 
portion of the shores of Lough Erne. I forget 
the scientific name of this plant. It is dangerous 
to human life; the strongest swimmer could not 
struggle through it to the shore. It forms a 
grand homo for insect life. I send you a local 
paper with an account of the capture of a good 
fish. Innis Owen. 
Ballyshannon, June 3, 1893. 
[The American weed is a very fine w’eed indeed, 
but “a little of it goes a very long way.” Put a 
few bunches into a lake or river, and in a very 
short time it crowds out everything else. Fortu¬ 
nately it appears to be dyirg out in many places. 
—Ed.] _ 
COLOURED LINES. 
Sir, —In reply to your correspondent “ Mark,” 
I have invariably found dark blue in fine or 
gossamer gut and sorrel (reddish brown) in hair 
the most successful. With the latter tackle, 
which, of course, requires great care in striking 
and playing a heavy fish, I have repeatedly been 
most fortunate when fish were shy and con¬ 
trary. In a coloured water, with the roach well 
on, I do not think the colour of the hook length 
of much importance provided it be not too coarse. 
—I am, Ac., _ . R. 11. Morris. 
Sir, —In reply to a correspondent in last 
Saturday’s issue, respecting taking aniline colour 
out of a silk line, spirits of wine is the solvent; 
but I should advise making up a warm soap 
lather, and allowing the line to soak for some 
minutes. Rub lightly through the hand and 
rinse in warm -water, which will deaden as well 
as abstract superfluous coloui-.—I am. &c.. 
Geo. F. Salter. 
