THE DACE. 225 



both at the worm and at the fly. The late Mr. Manley 

 says fishermen who want to make the special acquaintance 

 of the rudd had better betake themselves to Slapton Lea 

 and fly-fish for them on the sandy shallows in the summer 

 months. The fish run up to 2 Ibs., and are fairly sportive. 

 He recommends that a little bit of white kid glove should 

 be attached to the red palmer. 



The colour of the rudd varies much. Buckland says : 

 " In some shallow broads they are of a bright golden hue ; 

 in others, where the water is deep, their scales are like 

 those of the roach or dace," as a general rule. The eyes 

 are orange-red (hence the name Red-Eye), the cheeks and 

 gill-covers golden-yellow ; upper part of the back brown, 

 tinged with green and blue ; sides paler ; abdomen light 

 golden-yellow. The surface of the body has a . brilliant 

 reddish-golden hue, hence the name Rud. Moses Browne 

 says : 



" The Rud, a kind of roach, all tinged with gold ; 

 Strong, broad and thick, most lovely to behold." 



The fins are of a carnation-red ; the dorsal and caudal fins 

 not so bright in colour. 



Fin-rays: dorsal, 10 ; pectoral, 15; ventral, 9; anal, 

 13; caudal, 19. The Irish specimens of the rudd from 

 Lough Neagh, Yarrell states, have one ray more in the 

 dorsal and anal fins. 



The rudd spawns about the end of April, depositing its 

 eggs amongst the leaves of aquatic plants. 



THE DACK 



The DACE (Leuciscus vulgaris), called also the DARE or 

 DART, is a much more local fish than the roach. Like the 

 chub, it will rise at the fly at times very freely. We have 

 had many a good afternoon's sport, years gone by, at low 

 water on the shallows below Teddington weir, with a black 

 palmer.. The .muzzle is more pointed, the mouth rather 

 larger and more deeply cut, than in the roach, and the eyes 

 not so large. The back, also, is but slightly elevated, and 



p 



