45G 
THE PISHING GAZETTE 
[Jttke 17, 1893 
some coasts they are reefs, whilst in other 
localities the rocks extend from the land into the 
sea. I consider it hest to trail near the reefs, but 
fortrolling purposes the boat should be anchored 
about twenty or thirty yards away. The angler 
then takes the check from the winch, and casts 
the bait close to the rocks ; then wind up the line, 
and repeat the cast. If unsuccessful in one place, 
move further along the reef keeping the boat the 
same distance away. In trolling near the rocks 
on the sea shore the angler proceeds in exactly 
the same manner, only he chooses rather deep 
water, and throws the bait in towards the shore. 
If the sea be too rough to fish from a boat, it can 
be done from the rocks. First get a safe footing 
on a ledge, and cast the bait as far out to sea as 
possible, letting it sink moderately—not too far 
or it may get hung up in the weeds. In fact, 
whilst fishing in this way for the first time an 
accident or two of this kind is almost sure to 
happen, therefore I strongly advise the angler to 
carry at least half-a-dozen extra baits and leads. 
In drawing the bait towards the shore do not be 
in too great haste to withdraw it from the water, 
as the fish invariably lie close up to the rocks, 
and have been known to take the bait after it has 
ceased to spin. In float fishing the depth of 
the water should be ascertained by the ]dumb, 
and the bait should sink about three-quarters of 
the distance. The float should be rather large, 
a porcupine quill well covered with cork (painted 
green underneath and white above), and cajiable 
of holding a small loz. barrel-shaped lead, or a 
good number of shots. The lead is less trouble, 
and sinks the bait quickly. The gut bottom need 
only be two yards long, fine, but strong, and in 
this instance the worm should be placed on the 
hook in the usual manner. Mussels are also 
successfully used as bait when float fishing. 
The novice had I)etter ask an “ old salt ” the way 
to open and use them, he will then learn to 
take the mussel out of the shell whole. The 
small hard piece is first placed on Ihe hook, 
then a twist is made and the point thrust through 
the body of the mussel, which is firm because 
it has not been injured when taken from the 
shell. This operation is not so easily done as 
may be imagined, and in case the angler finds 
he cannot succeed in doing it he had better buy 
some mussels beforehand and boil them. They 
then come out of the shell whole, and are some¬ 
times very seductive. 
Finally, a few words in regard to fly-fishing. No 
salt-water fish rise more readily to the artificial fly 
than pollack, and in this way a large number 
of them are taken. The fish is very playful, 
and is often to be seen gamboling on the surface 
of the water, of course in the vicinity of its 
haunt—the rocks. If one can be rowed to a 
rock which stands surrounded by water, he may 
find sufficient sport to last him the day by 
fishing from the rock, and ordering the boat to 
return at a given time. Of course, if he goes 
on the rock at high water he is likely to be safe 
though he remain there until the tide ebbs and 
flows again. The fly is generally a white bit of 
feather, fastened to an ordinary hook, though 
the tackle makers have other fancy baits, and 
in clear warm weather this is an excellent mode 
of fishing. Twenty or thirty pounds of fish is 
not an unusual weight for a single line to take in 
one day under favourable circumstances, and 
whilst fishing for pollack an occasional bass 
may be had. In fact, this is a glorious pastime, 
and those who have never tried it would be sur¬ 
prised to find what an active, game antagonist 
is a 51b. pollack. With the artificial sand eel, 
too, the difficulty of procuring bait is obviated, 
and the angler has only to get amongst the 
rocks to also get amongst the fish. 
Dixsd.\le Daii.— -It is to be hoped that Dinsdale 
dam, on the lees, is doomed. In concluding his 
able report on it to the Board of Trade, Mr. 0. C. 
Fryer, Inspector of Fisheries, says : “ I conclude, 
therefore, that it is eminently desirable, in the 
interest of the Tees fisheries, that Dinsdale dam 
should be removed, and that there is no reason 
to doubt the ‘ propriety of assenting to the prayer ’ 
9,^ petition of the Board of Conservators of 
the Tees fishery district; and I recommend that 
the prayer of such petition should be assented to, 
and that a I’rovisional Order should be made 
accordingly.” 
RANDOM NOTES. 
THE WEATHER, FISH, STYLES, &c. 
By 0. 0. D. 
What is coming to the weather? The hedges 
look as if the contents of a flour mill had been 
]ioured over them. In some parts of the country 
grubs and caterpillars are so scarce that crows 
are robbing the smaller birds of their young. 
How vegetation keeps iilive is a mystery to me, 
for although in some localities there has not been 
a drop of rain for over ten weeks, day after day 
there is scarcely a cloud to be seen in the steel- 
grey sky; in short, “ The commonplace sun, in 
the commonplace sky, makes up the common¬ 
place day,” with a vengeance. From the papers 
f gather that anglers generally have got that 
highly objectionable protuberance termed the 
“ humj^ ” pretty fully developed, and that there 
are grave fears of a water famine. One cannot 
wonder at it. One of those fine daj’S, when 
London has been decimated with some plague or 
epidemic, we shall begin to put a stop to river 
pollution, construct additional reservoirs, and dig 
wells like mad. In reference to this water supply, 
and I may include river pollution, I should like 
to give that ubiquitous, farmer-like gentleman, 
known, termed, or designated John Bull, such a 
prod with one particular rod spear I possess that 
he would remember to the end of his days, and 
wake him up in all seriousness to the gravity of 
the situation. To resume. This time last year 
Yvhere I could get thousands of Yvorms I cannot 
find a dozen ; but I have picked up scores in the 
roads, on my way to business, writhing and dying 
in the dust. There is no freshness in anything, 
at any rate not what I call freshness. In many 
jDlaces the grass is decidedly not green; the roads, 
streets, and servers are in a very bad condition, 
especially the latter (for want of flushing), and 
dust, dinginess, drought, and dry rot reign 
triumphant. 
“Did I ever know such weather?” No; and I 
never want any more. I read in a paper some 
time back that the sun rvas gradually losing its 
heat (there was no mistake about it), and in about 
100,000 years the earth would bo a block of ice. 
It does not look much like it at present. Where 
are the balmy Springs of my youth ? The wild 
flowers scattered over the lea? Where the light and 
shade, the vernal showers, the babbling brooks, 
the sparkling rivers, the shadows like waves 
flitting over the grass, and the Ceylon-like 
breezes? Gone. Gone, apparently never to 
return. I pity the fat folk this weather. I have 
seen some monsters of late, and they seem to do 
nothing all day long but mop their brows, grunt, 
and gasp for breath. Their Falstaffian bulk 
seems an utter weariness to them. 
Gardening, again, is simply a fraud. I know 
one lady who has nearly broken her back for one 
dish of spinach. My neighbour, for instance, has 
been gardening for the past three months (let him); 
result, two pennyworth of radishes, hollow as 
drums, soft as pap, and hot as ginger. No, thanks. 
Old Moore and all the weather prophets are 
bowled over to a man. Read them. Most 
amusing. I have clean done with all that party. 
“ Oh the merry, merry sunshine that makes the 
heart so gay.” Does it? The sunshine may be 
merry, and 1 have no doubt is positively revelling 
in the roasting it is giving us, but give me a good 
old flood, frost, hail or thunderstorm, hurricane, 
whirlwind, blast, cyclone, tornado, or even a snoYV 
storm; in short, anything for a change. 
What about the fish ? It appears to me that 
they are all (or nearly all) feeding on the surface. 
Last evening at Wimbledon Lake they w'ere rising 
in hundreds, and to one taken on the bottom there 
were ten taken on and near the surface. For the 
first time since I have known the lake, strange 
to say, I saw an angler, Yvho evidently understood 
his business, using the blow line with consider¬ 
able effect; the wind was just right; and when 
the roach have thoroughly recovered from the 
operation of .spawning, on warm days I do not 
see why some of the *' tonkers ” should not be 
captured by adopting this method. Another 
knowing friend of mine had taken eleven or twelve 
fish, using natural baits, on a verj’ fine gut 
bottom and small hook, attached to a two-yard 
length of Bulmer’s celebrated gossamer gut. The 
fish Yverc returned of course. The baits included 
grubs, caterpillars (small green for choice), flies. 
various (mainly Cowdung), which he easily 
captured by means of a small gauze net Yvhen the 
flies Yvere on the excrement. Depth to fish from 
9in. to 12in., attaching a piece of cork about the 
size of a horse bean on the gut. No shots are 
used. Considerable skill is necessary in striking, 
especially if a too short rod is used, for there 
is always some slack line. It is impossible to 
prevent it when getting all the line out that is 
possible with a flft. or 10ft. rod. The anglers 
bottom fishing pure and simple did next to 
nothing. 
I saw one youth hook a good fish, but, instead 
of playing him directly from the reel, he began to 
haul down line with his right hand (seesaYV 
fashion). Of course the idiot gave slack, and the 
fish easily escaped—if he had played his quarry 
directly from the reel, the chances are 10 to 1 the 
fish could not have escaped—and with a face as 
long as a stocking he blurted out: “ Andarter a- 
waiting for him for four hours!” Mind it is not 
six next time. 
On several occasions my friend who was 
using the natural baits, has taken splendid d-ice 
adopting this method, when so-called anglers fly¬ 
fishing with much coarser tackle, i.e., thicker gut, 
&c., could not take a fish, notably in the Thames 
and Mole. 
Another old angler writes: “I have not seen 
your name in the Fishing Gazette for some time. 
I should be glad to see you and have a chat about 
Dagenham Lake. Fish there are busy spawning. 
Eels are and have been YV'ell on. I took one on 
Wednesday last 11b. 13.ioz , and lost another. The 
old lure, small dead roach. My friend Knight 
got smashed up and lost his bait at the second 
run.” I think the bait must have been ripped 
clean off in this case. 
From what I saw at Dagenham Lake one day 
last September, I think this water will maintain 
its reputation this season, and the sport, as far as 
roach and bream are concerned, should be good, 
not forgetting jack and carp. With respect to 
the latter fish, unless I am very much mistaken, 
there are some whoppers in the lake—(1) they 
Yvant finding, and (2) when found, as usual, they 
want catching. 
anir (t^ucrits 
Our columns are scarcely fitted for condo¬ 
lences, yet all anglers will agree to think with 
us that it is proper to say some words of bitter 
regret for the alfliction which has but a few days 
ago fallen on Major John P. Traherne. Mrs. 
Traherne’s death took place at the fishing quarters 
her husband occupied at Killaloe, where not less 
than in her native country the name of a model 
gentlewoman will be long kept in sweet remem¬ 
brance by all who knew her. 
The Sal-yion Season on the East Coast. —The 
season all over has been a very indifferent one to 
the netter. It opened fairly well, but the pro¬ 
longed March and April storms, coupled with the 
adY'erse winds, drove the bulk of the fish off the 
coast. They have been coming away more freely 
during the past three weeks, and the increased 
supply during that short period has, in a measure, 
redeemed the season from total failure. Up to 
date, the Aberdeen Harbour Board, who farm 
their own fishings, have dropped £1500 from last 
year’s receipts. This is equal to 25 per cent, of 
the normal average, and may be taken as a fair 
index to the state of matters all round. The fall 
has been entirely owing to the scarcity of fish, as 
the average price all over has been from 10 to 15 
per cent, over last year’s rates. 
Scientific Rese.arch in the North Sea. —The 
Fishery Board of Scotland have j ust arranged to 
co-operate with Professor Paterssen, of Stock¬ 
holm, in regard to observations on the physical 
condition of the North Sea. That specialist is 
continuing his researches, under the auspices of 
the Swedish and Danish Governments, in the 
Skegerrak, Kategat, Western Baltic, and the 
eastern part of the North Sea. A more exact 
knowledge of the temperature, specific gravity, 
and composition of these waters may prove to be 
of considerable value, not only in respect of geo¬ 
physics and meteorology, but of some important 
fishery problems also. 
