And what being made into balls, and dropped overboard in a few hours; and yet the take of fish has been almost nil-an enormous quantity of bread, &c., to so small a plate of fish! In this way it is not unreasonable to believe the fish are fed to repletion. Literally, tons of ground-bait must be thrown in every season. is the effect? To pave the bottom of the river, more particularly in the preserves, which were doubtless selected for the gravelly and sandy bottoms, with clay, a process in which the fish assist by grubbing the admixture in search of their food, and in lodging the portion of clay into the interstices of the stones of the bed of the river. If anyone is disposed to doubt the truth of this statement, let him place himself upon the bank of the Thames, say off Richmond or Teddington, where ten, fifteen, or twenty punts may be seen pitched at the same time, the fishermen of which are vying with each other in storming the river with balls of ground bait. Granted then that the roach like a sandy, gravelly, even bottom, and delight therein, to what is this practice tending, but to give a character to those spots frequented by the roach and dace (and trout) to which they have the most decided repugnance? Nottingham George's plan in this respect, possesses no such objection, as he uses but little ground-bait of the kind we allude to, and it would be well if the tyro, and even the old Thames angler, who is wedded to notions of an antiquated school, would get into a punt with this intelligent fisherman, if but for a day. It is really marvellous how men are rooted to prejudices, and there are none more so than the Thames puntsmen, they little recollecting that all things undergo a change. Although fish have the same appetites, instincts, and fears which they had a hundred years ago, they become more wary as they are sought with the lure-more scared after their escape from the barb of a hook; while it is just possible that there may exist other things of which they are fond, beyond the circumscribed diet offered to them year after year by those who consider that to learn anything but what was given to them with their apprentice articles would be an unnecessary trouble. For a detailed account of the fishing above Windsor Bridge to Oxford, I must refer the reader to "The Rail and the Rod, No. 2, Great Western Railway." The fishermen at Windsor are George Holland (better known as Nottingham George), George Hall, George Lamb, E. Cannon, and George Plumridge, who, although not a professed fisherman, will man a punt and work the pitches in the absence of anyone else. Any information in reference to the fishing may be obtained of Mr. Robert Smith, Tackle Maker, Eton Bridge. The George Inn, at Bray, just above Windsor, is about to be considerably increased for the benefit of anglers. The reputation of this house is great, and the additional accommodation has been solely induced by the deserved patronage bestowed upon it by the gentlemen frequenters of the Thames. The London and South-Western Railway, Briareus-like, throws its many arms around and about the Thames as far as this, and, indeed, extends one of its branches by Staines and Virginia Water to Reading. Kingston, Walton, and Weybridge may be reached by the main line, and Chertsey by a branch from the latter station, while Richmond, Twickenham, Staines, and Windsor are approached by a railway thus named. A third branch-that of the Thames Valley-carries the angler to within a short distance of Walton, Halliford, Shepperton, Weybridge, and Chertsey on the Surrey side. There is likewise an omnibus from St. Paul's Churchyard, about nine a.m., coached by an old four-in-hand whip, Tom Whitock-who, if the box-seat is secured, will make a very pleasant journey yet more so by his narratives of past times and chatty allusions to persons and places about Richmond, Twickenham, Hampton, Sunbury, Halliford, Shepperton, and Chertsey, through which he passes. He will, moreover, pull up at any of the well-known anglers' houses on the journey at which the prospects of sport, and information as to punts, fishermen, and baits may be mostly obtained. Saturday and Sunday cross-street, St. Luke's Friday and Sunday Amicable Society Cherry Tree, 85, Upper White- Brothers Well Met Berkeley Castle, Rahere-street, Sunday and Monday Cavendish City of London Finsbury Society of Anglers Friendly Anglers Friendly Anglers Golden Tench Piscatorial True Waltonians United Society of Walton and Cotton Walton Society of Titles of Societies not known The Anglers, Union-street, Thursday and Sunday Bald Face Stag, Worship-sq., Wednesday and Sunday Jacob's Well, 25, New Inn Wednesday and Sunday Hope Arms, 51, Duke-street, Wednesday Victoria, Charlotte-st., Euston- Saturday and Sunday Star and Garter, 44, Pall Mall Monday The Ship, 14, Berkeley-street, Sunday King's Head, 34, Great Port-Not known White Horse, 105, Long-acre Knave of Clubs, 23, Club-row, | Fitzroy Arms, 21, Clipston- Not known 81 LIST OF FISHING-TACKLE MAKERS. [FOR the convenience of the tourist-angler, and in order to make the "Rail and the Rod" as useful as possible, we give a list of the fishingtackle makers and sellers resident in the metropolis.] Aldred, Thomas, 126, Oxford-street, W. Alfred, W. H. and Son, 54, Moorgate-street, E.C. Brocas, Mrs. Letitia, 25, Hart-street, Bloomsbury. Fernandes, Marco, 2, Devonshire-square, N.E. Gillett, John, 115, Fetter-lane, Fleet-street, E.C. Gould, Alfred, 268A, Oxford-street, W. Gowland and Co., 3 and 4, Crooked-lane, E.C. Hollamby, Benjamin, 24, Francis-street, Tottenham-court-road, W.C. Holroyd, John Spear, 59, Gracechurch-street, E.C. Jones, James and Co., 111, Jermyn-street, S.W. G |