SPORT turesque stream of typical Kentish pat- tern, provides sport of very fair quality with the trout, and very high prices are obtained for a few of the best stretches along its wandering banks. Other rivers in the county, besides the three already mentioned, are the Lesser Stour, the Cray, the Beult, the Teise, and the Eden. Most of them are deep running and in places very muddy, while they are weedy and difficult to fish by reason of the steepness of their banks and the growth of bushes and trees which overhang the water. The trout-fishing throughout the county is everywhere strictly preserved, and the same may be said in some instances of the ' coarse ' fishing. Roach, pike, perch, and bream are met with in practically all the Kentish rivers, and some vety good specimens of each kind are taken every season. The close time for coarse fish is from 15 March to 15 June, both dates inclusive, the dates applying generally to the whole of the rivers within the county. Besides the rivers there are a number of lakes and ponds, most of which are open to the angler for the asking, but permis- sion to fish must in nearly every case be obtained. In a few instances a small charge is made for week-end or day angling tickets, application a few days in advance being necessary. The Hythe Military Canal offers exceptional advantages to the angler, and is considered one of the best pieces of water in the county for tench, which run to a good size here. There is also fishing to be had in a number of ' fleets ' or drains in the marshes close to the seashore. Visitors from London will find the Medway and the Stour the two most accessible rivers for those who do their angling with the assistance of the railway. Of late years fish preservation in the Kentish rivers has received considerable attention, and the few streams which contain trout have been very much improved by re-stock- ing, and the enforcement of stringent rules concerning the size of the fish that may be taken. Similar regulations have been intro- duced in regard to the coarse fish — roach, dace, chub, and bream being well looked after in this respect. Even the murderous pike, whose friends are few in most parts of the kingdom, is encouraged, and runs to a good size in the weedy waters that he inhabits. The metropolitan angler has always been encouraged by the railway company to visit the streams of Kent, and a number of London societies avail themselves of the week-end and cheap day ticket facilities provided on the South Eastern and Chatham system. Local clubs and associations are also numer- ous, chief among these being the Stour Fishery Association, the Lesser Stour Fishery, and the Model Angling Club, each of these bodies having their head quarters in Canter- bury. There are also the Tonbridge, Maid- stone, Tunbridge Wells, and Yalding societies connected with the Medway ; and the Heme Bay, Ramsgate and District, Deal and Dis- trict, and Folkestone societies are to be met with in succession along the coast. These latter bodies include a number of anglers who besides being followers of the sport in fresh water also spend a good deal of their time in salt-water angling. At Harrietsham near Maidstone there is a well-managed piscicultural establishment, known as the Fario Fishery, and owned by Mr. L. Mason. The chief fish reared here are the large English brown trout and the rainbow trout of America. A special study is made of natural fish food, and a large number of water plants of various kinds, suitable for river planting and useful in attracting different species of insects, are grown. Several of the private waters of the county have been restocked from this establishment, and the fish have done well. It is interesting to note, by the way, that there are no grayling in any of the Kentish rivers. Kent's principal river, the Medway, rises near East Grinstead in the vicinity of Ash- down Forest, Sussex, and in the course of its meanderings towards the Kentish border the angler will find many a little quiet brook where moderate baskets of trout may be obtained. Some of these little tributaries run far more briskly than those lower down the river, and although the fish are small, they are of excellent quality and quite cap- able of aff^ording good sport. The trout fishing in these secluded brooks reminds one of the sport to be had in the trout streams of the West of England, but the use of the fly is impossible upon some of them owing to the overgrowth of bushes along the banks. A few of these tributaries contain also roach and bream. The most notable angling stations for these parts and the best centres for visitors are Ashurst, Penshurst, and Groombridge — all near the Sussex border ; and Wateringbury, East Farleigh, Yalding, East Peckham, and Tonbridge, farther along the Medway's course. About two miles above Maidstone there is a par- ticularly good piece of water. For the most part the river is preserved — some of it by 505 <54
