Petitions were also presented to the Home Secretary; one from the fishermen themselves and another from the inhabitants. Of course these were from fishermen’s point of view. Those who are anxious that fish in the river should be increased, who think the protective provisions of the Act favour such increase, and who follow fishing more by way of sport and pastime, take very different views; they naturally look upon professional fishermen, men who lay night lines, and fish as a means of obtaining a livelihood, as enemies of legitimate sport. The object of protection is a laudable one, namely, that the means of innocent recreation, and the food of the people, may be increased; and eels are, there is no question, a more important article of food, so far as the people on the banks of the Severn are concerned, than Salmon, and that ten times over. Salmon can never be multiplied so as to come within the reach of the people generally. Eels, on the contrary, are an article of food with the poor, the middle classes, and the rich themselves. Moreover, they will bear comparison with any well-flavoured fish the Severn produces.
It is chiefly for eel fishing, by means of night lines, but sometimes also for fly-fishing for trout and other fish, that the coracle, that ancient British vessel, is still retained on the Severn. The men go down with the stream to lay their lines, and then carry their coracles over their heads and shoulders; so that looking at them from behind they look like huge beetles walking along the road.
Of fish unaffected by the obstructions enumerated may be mentioned the river’s pride—
“The crimson spotted trout
And beauty of the stream.”
But it must be sought for higher up or lower down the river, generally at the fords, and the embouchers of streams which come down to join the Severn, as Cound and Linley brooks. In deeper parts of the river too, near these places, good sized chub are found. But the chub is not much esteemed, although a fine fish, and, according to Izaak Walton, “proves excellent meat.” It grows to a large size, and may be caught in holes near Sweyney, where the bushes overhang such holes. Pike too are found here, but are more common about Buildwas and Cressage.
That handsome fish the roach, known by the dusky bluish green on head and back, with lighter shades on sides, its silvery white belly, and dorsal and caudal fins tinged with red, is also to be caught.
Dace, grayling, and perch, are met with, the latter congregating in holes of the river, or seen herding together hunting its prey. As Drayton says of—
“The dainty gudgeon, loche, the minnow, and the bleak,
Since they are little, I little need but speak.”
The former makes up for its small size by the daintiness of “meat.” Its favourite haunts are the swift flowing portions of the river, with pebbly and sandy bottoms. It is a ground feeder, greedy, and rushes at once to seek its prey, if you stir up the bed of the river. The bleak is about the size of the gudgeon, and is a quick biter.
From the peculiarities of its watershed the Severn is subject to sudden and unlooked for