Pike-Fishing in the Black Forest. 27 



the minnow. Here live bait is considered 

 inferior to artificial bait, and that which is 

 generally used is a bright piece of metal shaped 

 somewhat like a dace. The shores are lined in 

 many places with beds of reeds, which stretch 

 some way into the lake, and afford excellent 

 hiding for pike. But in many parts the sides 

 slope quickly down, and the water is deep close 

 to the bank. In addition to pike, the lake is 

 full of roach or Schoppen, as they are locally 

 called which may be seen playing about in 

 shoals in the still water. One of the boys of 

 the school which I have mentioned, took a 

 dozen or two in the morning with grasshoppers, 

 a bait which is easily procured, as the mea- 

 dows resound with the "click, click" of this 

 brisk little insect. Fishing for roach can 

 scarcely be dignified with the name of sport, 

 but it must afford as much pleasure as catch- 

 ing gudgeon from a punt beneath the woods of 

 Bisham and Cliveden ; and to sit in the shade 

 of a fragrant and weird pine-wood, with scarcely 

 a sound to break the stillness but the tinkle of 

 the cow-bells, and see the sun lighting up the 

 pastures and village opposite, is a pleasant form 

 of quiet enjoyment. The same tranquil pleas- 



