The salmon and sea trout rivers of England and Wales Volume 2 - Softcover

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1904 Excerpt: ...lbs. having been netted. Up to 1861, the entire fishery of the river was practically in the hands of the lessee of Salmon Hall, and as he killed every fish that he could, the proprietors above ceased to preserve salmon from which they reaped no benefit, and thus all the natives above Salmon Hall were permitted to fish how, when, and where they pleased, so that up to Bassenthwaite Lake there was no attempt at preservation. Then came the Act of 1861, and fish passes were VOL. II. H ordered to be placed on the Salmon Hall Weirs, and on the Fitz Weir above them. 1862. As no passes had been placed on the Salmon Hall Weirs, the cruives could not lawfully be worked, and thus, being left open, fish passed into the upper waters in such quantities that the Secretary of the Cockermouth Angling Association wrote to the Fishery Inspector of that time: "you will be glad to hear that a considerable number of salmon have been taken by anglers during the last week; that the river is full of fish, and that no one has ever seen such fishing or such prospects for many years past. I may also add that more fish have been killed above 20 lbs. than under, and there is quite an excitement about it in the neighbourhood." In justice to the then lessee of the Salmon Hall Fishery, it must be stated that no sooner did he see the benefits that the opening of his cruives conferred on the river, than he joined with the proprietors to assist them in every way that he fairly could be expected to do. In 1872, Mr. Dalzell, the lessee of Salmon Hall, caught a clean fish as early as 26th March, but not another till the 27th April; very few summer fish were taken, the main run not commencing before September, when they were all heavy fish. Mr. Dalzell always maintained that there was a ...