68 ANGLING IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



The essence of roach fishing, under these circumstances, 

 is to be quiet, and so well did this successful angler comply 

 with the requirement, that a pretty brown water-rat oppo- 

 site went on diving for, and returning to land with, some 

 kind of ribbon weed, and audibly munching it on the 

 balcony of his sandy abode in the bank. In less than 

 three-quarters of an hour I witnessed, by this clever 

 tight-line fishing, the taking of ten roach, of which the 

 largest was nearly a pound and a half, and the smallest 

 three-quarters of a pound. I enjoyed the watching, I 

 am sure, as much as the veteran enjoyed the catching. 

 As an illustration of the precarious nature of roach 

 fishing, it is incumbent upon me to add that the whole 

 of the morning and afternoon, to that evening hour 

 when the mellow sun was setting over the church spire 

 and its adjacent rookery, had yielded only half-a-dozen 

 small fish. 



