THE CARP FAMILY. IQl 



THE EOACH. 



Of course no angler will fish for Roach when better sport 

 3an be had ; but as they are only in season when all other 

 fish refuse a bait, and thus act as a palliative to one who 

 sufiers from " Anglo-Mania," they deserve some notice. 



On any warm day from October to April, the angler may 

 unite recreation with exercise, by taking his walking cane 

 rod in his hand, and with a lump of tough dough or a few 

 small wood-worms, have an hour's sport with these pretty 

 little fish. If he has some juvenile friend with him, the 

 pleasure is enhanced. I have taken scores of them during 

 the winter, from seven to nine inches in length, at Gray's 

 Ferry, also in Cooper's Creek, and at Red Bank below the 

 city. They are generally found on the lee side of a pier 

 stretching into a fresh-water creek or river ; and sometimes 

 in the dock itself. 



When fishing for Roach I have frequently laid them on 

 the snow or ice, when they would become frozen ; but on 

 taking them home carefully, and putting them in hydrant 

 water, would have the whole catch swimming about. There 

 is some nicety required in taking Roach artistically, which 

 is not attained by bunglers, and this fact adds to the pleasure 

 of this kind of winter angling. 



The rod should be slight and from eight to ten feet long ; 



the line of fine silk; bottom of fine gut; hooks No. 12, 



Kirby, one of which should be seized to the extreme end, 



and three others to short pieces of gut, diverging at intervals 



11 



