_Photo by Clarke & Hyde._]
]
Take, for instance, the rudd-fishing. The bags of these fish are
considerably smaller now than they were ten, aye, even five years ago.
It is quite possible that the crowds of summer holiday folk are partly
responsible for this falling off; but is it not also probable that the
gradual filling up of some parts of the Broads, mostly those parts where
rudd do love to congregate, is by far the more important cause? Where
the angler used to find the rudd in, say, two feet of water, there is
now but a foot—in many cases barely that—yet the fish are still there.
It is rather amusing than otherwise to watch the holiday folk going for
these wary fish in such shallow water with the orthodox tackle of years
gone by, _i.e._, a fine running line, float and shotted bottom; it is
surprising to see a sportsman doing the same thing. Now, the rudd is
essentially a summer-feeding fish, and what is more he is, when
shoaling, a surface-feeding fish; therefore, even while the summer
holiday folk are present, get you an eleven-foot fly rod, attach to the
end of your taper line a two-yard fine taper gut cast, armed at the end
with a fairly large crystal-bend hook; fill the hook with well-scoured
gentles (half-a-dozen is not too many), and casting as you would with a
fly, put this bait among the rudd that are shoaling in the shallow
water, and see what will happen! The lid of your creel will constantly
creak a welcome to a lusty specimen, and you will return to quarters
with a heavy bag and a light heart, while the man with the float and
shots will most probably return with a light bag, swearing at the
decadence of sport on the Broads, and cursing the “cheap-tripper” as the
cause of his non-success. So, too, with the bream-fishing. The day has
gone by when you could pitch anywhere and make sure of a big bag of
bream. This, also, is a summer-feeding fish, principally. Yet you have
only to go about your work in a methodical and common-sense manner to
command, at any rate, a respectable bag. Even while the crowd is in full
evidence, look you for a quiet nook with a decent depth of water. You
should have no difficulty in finding one; and having found it, nurse it
even as a Thames or a Lea or a Trent angler nurses his swim. Bait it
carefully, fish it as carefully with decent tackling, and success shall
be yours clean in front of the man who, following the orthodox methods,
follows also the “milky way” over the broad waters that are now
continually disturbed by passing craft of all descriptions.
The best of the pike-fishing is to be had during the winter months, when
the greater bulk of the weeds and rushes are rotted, and a keen frost is
in the air. If you do not care to face the cold winds that sweep over
Broadland at this time of year, then you must rest content with the
comparatively indifferent sport with these fish obtainable in more
genial weather conditions. But if you do not mind the cold, give the
Broads a trial for pike during December, January or February. Certainly
you will not be troubled with a crowd through the winter months! You
will, as a matter of fact, have miles of river and acres of broad water
to yourself. You can spin, paternoster or live-bait to your heart’s
content, and you will catch fish that will handsomely reward you. No one
who has only killed pike in Broadland during the late summer and early
autumn months would credit the enormous increase in fighting power one’s
quarry develops during the winter. The most successful tackling in the
rivers is the paternoster, and for that matter it is the best on the
Broads also. But spinning may be resorted to in the latter waters, and
where a big fish is known to lie a live bait on snap tackle will most
probably tempt him. You can catch your own baits from the rivers, but it
is best to make sure of a supply from some fishing tackle dealer.
The ruthless destruction in the past of rare birds (and, by-the-by, the
so-called “cheap-tripper” was not responsible for the unsportsmanlike
slaughter) has rendered it necessary to protect many of them against
utter extinction. The best of the wildfowling is strictly preserved.
There is, however, some very good wildfowling to be had still from
November until February. Here, again, the sportsman must not expect the
bags obtainable years ago, but with careful stalking he should do fairly
well. Some decent flight-shooting is also available. The three things
absolutely necessary to success are, a handy punt, a hard-hitting gun,
and a well-trained dog. The latter is the most important of all.
Notes and Sport of a Dry-Fly Purist.