Angling (using a rod, line and hook) was a popular local pastime, controlled by the Esk and Liddle Fisheries Association. Conditions and catches were described weekly in the local newspaper during the fishing season.
Fishing tackle could be obtained from Joe Anderson’s watchmaking and jewellery shop. Flies were tied on the premises by his wife Mary, whose father James Graham had earlier had a fishing tackle and tobacco business in Market Place.
The local paper also commented weekly on catches using nets in the Solway Firth. There were four main types of net: stake, poke, haaf and drift.
An additional method in rivers was catching fish by hand from under stones or river banks, known in Scotland as ‘guddling’ and illegal in regulated waters.
