242 MODERN PRACTICAL ANGLER. 
the only English species of scale fish which have been 
clearly proved to be bi-sexual, that is, to contain in 
each separate individual the means of reproduction 
complete—in other words, both milt and roe. They 
spawn towards the end of April, or beginning of May, 
casting their eggs in strings like festoons of pearls 
about the weeds and rocks. That they increase rapidly 
is not to be wondered at when it is considered that as 
many as 280,000 eggs have been counted in a single 
specimen, weighing half a pound. 
THE POPE OR RUFFE. 
The only other species of the Perch family known to 
exist in this country is the Pope or Ruffe, a gregarious 
fish, which though resembling its congeners in many 
points of habit and structure, is in an angling point of 
view altogether inferior. The bait and tackle recom- 
mended for Gudgeon-fishing will be found also the most 
successful in taking Pope ; and indeed it is in Gudgeon- 
fishing that the Pope is most frequently captured. I 
have seldom met with specimens exceeding 4 or 5 inches 
in length. 
