SUPPLEMENT TO THE FISHING GAZETTE 
SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 1893. 
JOTTINGS BY THE WAY. 
In accordance with our promise of last week, wo give I 
our readers a description of the fishing to be obtained at 
one of the stations now open to anglers, namely Mildon- 
hall, on the River Lark. It is intended to continue these 
articles from time to time, and it is hoped that those 
who have never fished these waters will find the informa¬ 
tion _ contained therein not only instructive but enter¬ 
taining. ###### 
“ The months of northern anglers,” says a con¬ 
temporary, “ may well water at the new rules governing 
the size of fish to be kept by anglers in the Thames, 
The conservancy of that river have issued their fresh 
rules this week, which provide that no trout may be kept 
under 16 inches long, nor grayling under 12 inches long, 
nor pike under 18 inches long.” We may mention the 
fact that several London angling clubs do not allow pike 
to be weighed-in whic:h have not attained the respectable 
dimensions of 24 inches. 
####*# 
The Summer Competition of the Kelso Angling Asso¬ 
ciation takes plaoe to-day (Saturday, June 17), when 
the following prizes will be competed for : Hendersyde 
rod, pair of wading stockings, sporting knives, pipe and 
case, salmon flies, trout flies, fishing tackle, &c. It is 
to be hoped that the enterprising Kelsonians do not 
have far to travel for their'sport, as the hours of com¬ 
petition are from 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. 
****** 
Me. William Heaeder, of Plymouth, writes ; “ The 
rivers are not so low as one would think after the long 
drought; some local showers account for this. The 
Meavy is affording very good sport in the higher waters, 
and also the Walkham, near Merrivale Bridge. The 
best baskets have been taken with the Blow Ply and 
Grasshopper.” 
#***#* 
There is a rumour that several of our London 
angling clubs intend sending some of their best men to 
fish in the match (open to all England) for a gold medal, 
which is to take place on July 24, at Brigg. Prizes to 
the value of d850 are offered, and should be well worth 
trying for, if only for the benefit of the outing. 
«****# 
A CORRESPONDENT (B. in G.) in our contenlporary the 
Deutsche Fischerei-Zeitung, asks whether eels are sub¬ 
ject to the influence of weather? He has tried them 
industriously night-lining (or presumably ledgering) with 
lobs, small frogs, &o., with little success. The answer 
of our confrere we will not reproduce, but if the eels are 
as plentiful as he says, we would suggest a No. 8 hook, 
mounted on fine gimp with a couple of swivels to 
counteract bis wriggling propensities, and then let him 
attach a well-scoured, tough “ Regenwurm,” properly 
threaded, and await results, giving Mr. Eel time enough 
to get hold of his bonne bouche, and then drag him out. 
The inquirer will he folly occupied in getting ready for 
his next cast. As far as weather influence is concerned, 
they are undoubtedly most on the move when thunder 
showers and heavy rains are about. 
****** 
In another column appears an interesting letter from 
Mr. T. Crnmplen, on the “ Fishery Rights in the Suffolk 
Stour.” It is well worthy of perusal, and it is sincerely 
to be hoped that the response will be prompt and 
hearty. ****** 
On Tuesday last a sea lamprey was caught in the 
Arun, near Pulborough. It was 29in. in length and 
GJin. in girth. The fish was splendidly marked, and I 
should judge it to weigh nearly 31b. It was sent to Mr. 
Orumplen by the proprietor of the Swan Inn, at Pul¬ 
borough. I understand it was “preserved” in the 
orthodox style by Mr. Crumplen’s chef. 
****** 
Three men who were aiTestod last week on the 
charge of fish poisoning in soma of iho choicest trout 
streams between Birmingham and Warwick, have been 
committed for trial. 
Sf # * # # * 
It is matter for congratulation that the hon. secretary 
of the Junior Fly-Fishers (Mr. J. B. Close) should have 
been fortunate enough, amongst so many really first- 
class anglers, to be fourteenth on the list of competitors 
(who numbered forty-four) at the recent Loch Leven 
Championship Competition. 
#####* 
Mr. F. Wilkinson had a pretty 3^1b. trout from 
Chertsey Weir, on Monday last. 
#*#«*# 
The Society of Caxtonian Anglers on Thursday 
night banqueted at their club-house, the Falcon, 
Gough-square, Fleet-street. The handsome club-room, 
with its choice collection of specimen li.sh, was com¬ 
fortably filled with members and friends. The function, 
from beginning to end, was, as is usual with this un¬ 
ostentatious but decidedly flourishing society, a brilliant 
success. Mr. W. Cate presided, and Mr. Chapman was 
the vice. Prizes to the value of T4fl were distributed 
(including two handsome cups, which were filled with 
choice champagne), and a splendid list for the ensuing 
season subscribed. The speeches, toasts, recitations, 
and songs were many degrees above the average. Three 
new members were elected. Mr. Crumplen replied to 
the toast of “ Kindred Societies,” and that of “ The 
Press ” was responded to by Dragnet. 
WKINKLES AND HINTS. 
The Deutsche Fischerei Zeitang says ;—At Witten the 
Mayfish, which come from the Rhine, &c., and in this 
neighbourhood are caught in large numbers, are con¬ 
spicuous by their absence, and ascribes the cause to the 
unusually low state of the water. 
Fish-nets are made from some very strange materia|ls. 
The Eskimos manufacture them from strips of seal hide 
and from thin slices of whalebone. By the Fijians they 
are constructed of human hair. Savages in various parts 
of the world plait the inner fibres of tree bark for 
fishing lines, and the Indians on the Paoifle coast of 
North America use for the same purpose seaweed a 
sort of kelp which is strong enough to hold a finny 
captive of 1501b. weight. 
The Sleep op Fish.-— An experiment was tried at the 
Inventions Exhibition Aquarium with a view to dis¬ 
covering how far fish are prone to sloop. After close 
examination it was found that amongst fresh-water fishes 
the roach, dace, gudgeon, carp, tench, minnow, and 
catfish sleep periodically in common with terrestrial 
animals. The same instincts were found to actuate 
marine fish, of which the following were observed to be 
equally influenced by somnolenceviz., the wrasse, 
conger eel, dory, dogfish, wrasse bass, and all species of 
flat fish. It is stated that, so far as can be discovered, 
the gold-fish, pike, and angler fish never sleep, but rest 
periodically. Desire for sleep amongst fish varies ac¬ 
cording to meteorological conditions. Fish do not 
necessarily select night-time for repose. 
I HAVE heard, says Shooting cind Fishing, of a great 
many different kinds of bait used in catching fish, 
including lizards for black bass, and the eye of a yellow 
perch for the perch itself, but an explorer in Borneo, 
Mr. Charles Hose, mentions a bait entirely new. Mr. 
Hose desired some fish, but had no tackle, when a Dyak 
brought out a piece of thread which he tied to a wand, 
and from a piece of brass wire he bent a hook. The next 
thing was the bait, and, as nothing could be found for 
this purpose, the native coolly took a knife and cut a 
piece of the skin from the sole of his foot, which served 
to tempt the fish, and the Dyak furnished the same bait 
for other fishermen in the party. 
Tench. —The merits of the tench as food are but little 
known in this country. In France and Italy the fish is 
highly esteemed ; even in small country towns in France 
as much as one franc a pound or upwards is given for it. 
In Holland it is said that tench are considered a first-rate 
delicacy, and equal to turtle. The slime at the bottom 
of ponds in which tench love to bury themselves does not 
seem to affect their flavour. Yarrel mentions some tench 
that were taken out of Munden Hall Fleet, in Essex, 
“ which was so thick with weeds that the flew-nets could 
hardly be sunk through them, and where the mud was 
intolerably fetid and had dyed the fish of its own colour, 
which was that of ink. yet no tench could be better 
grown or of a sweeter flavour ; many were taken that 
weighed nine and some ten pounds the brace.” 
In some parts of Germany perch are caught and carried 
alive to market, sometimes a distance of forty or fifty 
miles, and, if not sold, brought back to their tank or 
pond to await another occasion for sale. 
Not more than two or three per cent, of the eggs of 
the salmon ever reach the stage of reproduction. 
In the wide waters of the sea it is thought that 
not one egg in a thousand ever becomes a fish. 
Fecundity of Fishes. —Fishes produce so many eggs 
that, if vast numbers of the latter and of the fishes 
themselves were not continually destroyed, these 
animals would finally fill up all the waters. For ex¬ 
ample, man annually takes 60,000,000 or 70,000,000 cod¬ 
fish from the sea around the shores of Newfoundland. 
But even that quantity seems small when we consider 
that each cod yields about 5,000,000 eggs each season, 
and that even 8,000,000 have been found in the roe of a 
single cod. Were the 60,000,000 cod taken on the coast 
of Newfoundland left fo breed, the 30,000,000 females 
producing 5,000,000 eggs every year, it would give a 
yearly addition of 1.50,000,000,000,000 young codfish. 
Other fish, though not equalling the cod, are wonderfully 
productive. A herring weighing six or seven ounces is 
provided with about 30,000 eggs. After making all 
reasonable allowances for the destruction of eggs and the 
young, it has been calculated that in three years a single 
pair of herrings would produce 151,000,000. 
Carrier Pigeon Service in Relation to Sea 
Fisheries. — From the Deutsche Fischerei Zeitung 
(Stettin) we extract the following novel experiment in 
relation to land communication between fishing smacks 
and the fish market. It appears that the Fairport 
Fishing Company, Cleveland, have supplied each of their 
smacks with two of these birds, and that as soon as the 
nets are hauled in a pigeon is thrown up with informa¬ 
tion attached, detailing how many of each sort are con¬ 
tained in the take. 'This information, even when the 
smack travels fast home, arrives much in advance, and 
enables the company to arrange for the disposal of the 
fish and wire their salesmen. The second pigeon is 
merely taken in case of the boat sustaining an accident 
or being otherwise delayed, when assistance can at once 
be rendered at any given point. 
GROUND BAIT. 
Master Tiddler to Tackle Dealer: “If you please 
should like a hook of Holland and a Great Eastern line. 
Tackle Dealer: “If yon are not off pretty quick I can 
show you a rod that you won’t like.” 
“ What’s that you say about a three-pouna roach? 
“ I was saying I caught one this morning ! ” “ That s a 
fish story.” “ Well, if you’ll come with me 111 show 
you the very hole it came out of.” 
“ Men we Meet.” —Nuthall, J.P., Whesldon, J.P., and 
Connellan, J.P. ____ 
At a quaint wayside, riverside inn, not many miles 
from London, may be seen the announcement: “ Horses 
flys, &c.” Does they? _ 
The biggest of fresh-water fish, the “ arapaima of 
the Amazon in South America, grows to six feet m 
length. ‘ * 
The angler who never uses one or two choice 
expletives, when he loses a big fish, has a dangerous lot 
of language stored away somewhere in his organism. 
A MAN is as old as he feels, but not always as big • 
only when he puts his big catcb on the trays. 
A teacher asked a girl how many hones there were 
in her body. Her answer was, “ 2.50. Wremg, 
said the teacher, “ there are only 249.” “ Yes m, but I 
swallowed a fish bone to-day.” 
One Fish, one Drink.—" Colonel, bow are the fish 
biting up your way?” “Splendid! Ain’t been sober 
for a week.” ___ 
It is computed that if a man were as strong of muscle 
in proportion as a flea, he could lift an eighty pound 
salmon at the end of a twenty-foot rod. 
As long as the fish bite on Sundays anglers will go 
after them. . 
The happiest anglers in the world are they 
Who, if a blank comes, don’t mind it. 
But are willing to take their chance each day 
Just exactly as they find it. 
A happy moment in an angler’s life 
Is to get the large ones when they’re feeding fine 
But the proudest moment of all his life 
Is a three-pound roach on a tight hair line. 
How He Made His Living.— A rather inexperienced 
votary of Izaak Walton, in the shape of an Edinburgh 
clerk, fished for a whole day in a burn without a single 
catch. Just as he was about, disconsolately, to leave 
off in order to return to town, an old man, who for some 
time had watched the abortive attempts of the angler 
to entice from the brook its finny denizens, at length 
approached and laconically asked: “Catched ony 
thing?” “Not one,” answered the disappointed fisher, 
with some hesitation. “I suppose ye dinna like tae 
gan:' hame wi’ a toom creel—it doesna look weel; yer 
folk”micht lauoh at ye.” “ What do you mean ? ” asked 
the angler, rather annoyed. “ Weel, I’ll sell ye leevin 
troot at three shillin’s the dizzen. Ye ken I net them, 
and keep them in a tub till they’re needit.” ‘ I’ll take 
two dozen,” decided the city man, after a pause; and 
then asked, “ Do you do much business in this fashion ? 
“ I mak ma leevin’ at it i’ the simmer-time,” was the 
suggestive answer. . 
Lady Jane : “ Have you given the goldfish fresh 
water, Jane?” Janet: “No, mum, they ain’t finished 
the water I give ’em t’other week yet.” 
A faithful friend is one who would be willing to 
share your last shilling with you. 
A FISHERMAN stood On the river bank. 
Lonely and sad was he. 
All day he’d stood upon that bank. 
Yet never a bite had he ! 
A fisherman bo.arded the train at night. 
For a run to his city home ; 
And the story he told of his record “ bite ” 
Would have made the fishes groan. 
“ Why are you sad, Charlie—you can’t complain of 
your luck to-day, surely?” “No; but I was just 
thinking this is the last evening we can be fishing 
together till to-morrow.” 
She (when the creel is being taken from its usua 
resting place): “ Where are you going, Edward ? ” He 
“ My dear, a wise woman never asks her husband where 
he is going.” She : “ And yet a wise man may ask his 
■wife-” He; “You are mistaken, my dear. Wise 
men never have any wives.” 
One man’s idea of sport may be vdiolly different from 
that of another man, but the result, as a rule, is the 
same—healthy exercise and pure pleasure. To one, 
when fly-fishing in America, there once came a native 
who, after gravely watching him in silence, thus 
delivered himself—“ Say, cunn’l, whar’s the p’int of 
slinging a bug on a twenty-foot pole when you can yank 
em out with a stick and a worm ? ” 
