Ever since I was a
schoolboy I have enjoyed reading and I walked miles into town every week
to borrow books from the library.
Even now I would rather read a good book than watch the telly. Of course
sporting books, especially fishing books, were and still are my first
choice.
One of my favourite authors many years ago was the late J. W. Martin who
wrote under the pen name of ‘Trent Otter’.
He wrote books about what are still our favourite river fisheries in our
area notably the Trent and the Derbyshire Derwent and other rivers often
visited by anglers from Derbyshire.
I especially enjoyed a book that Martin wrote in 1906 called My Fishing
Days and Fishing Ways.
Now, to my delight, the book has after all this time been re-published
by the Medlar Press in Shropshire and I have been able to buy a copy.
Probably the most informative and enjoyable book on angling that I have
ever read, even after all this time.
In the book Martin discusses the reason for the river’s name.
It apparently comes from the French name ‘Trente’ meaning
30.
It has been said that the river Trent had 30 tributaries, and 30 abbeys
on its banks, and 30 species of fish.
Martin could not account for all 30 species but I can think of 28 different
fish that either live in the river now or have lived in it at least occasionally
in the past.
My list is as follows: bronze bream, silver bream, barbel, carp, chub,
dace, eels, perch, pike, roach, rudd, tench, brown trout, sea trout, salmon,
rainbow trout, grayling, bullheads, stone loach, three-spined sticklebacks,
minnows, tommy ruffes, bleak, flounder, lamprey, gudgeon, burbot, and
smelt. Perhaps the other two species were occasional stray sea fish into
the tidal reaches. I have myself had some 23 different species from the
river.
If you are buying a Christmas present for an angler your bookseller should
be able to get you a copy of this reasonably-priced book by Trent Otter.
.