ROACH AND RUDD. 255 
broads, in which the Rudd are known to abound. The 
most remarkable water for Rudd with which I am per- 
sonally acquainted, is Slapton Ley, in Devonshire, 
where these fish not only breed in vast numbers, but 
attain an unusual size, from I to 2 pounds being a 
weight of common occurrence. 
The Rudd spawns in April, or early in May, according 
to the forwardness of the spring, and the Roach about 
a month later, when they usually ascend from the lower 
parts of the rivers, fighting their way up intervening 
‘rapids with persistent energy, until they find a suitable 
spot—usually a weedy shallow—in the higher reaches. 
After spawning they repair to the nearest swift 
gravelly shallows to scour, and subsequently into quieter 
currents, where they should be fished for until September 
or October, when they begin to retire for the winter into 
deep and still waters, preferring usually a gravelly or 
sandy bottom. 
Roach and Rudd will occasionally take most of the 
baits already described for Bream; paste and gentles, 
however, are the two best, and of these I have found 
from experience that gentles are usually both the most 
killing and the most reliable, taking all waters and 
weathers throughout the year. They are also much 
more convenient for use because requiring to be seldom 
renewed. Many anglers, in fact, go to the opposite 
extreme, and acting on this circumstance, do not renew 
the bait nearly often enough. Whenever the gentles 
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