chap, xv.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 203 



THE FOURTH DAY. 



chap. xv. Observations of the Gudgeon, the Ruffe, 

 and the Bleak, and how to Fish for them. 



Piscator. 

 J. he Gudgeon is reputed a fish of excellent taste, 



and to be very wholesome : he is of a fine shape, of a 

 silver colour, and beautified with black spots both on 

 his body and tail. He breeds two or three times in the 

 year, and always in summer. He is commended for a 

 fish of excellent nourishment : the Germans call him 

 Groundling , by reason of his feeding on the ground ; 

 and he there feasts himself in sharp streams, and on 

 the gravel. He and the Barbel both feed so, and do 

 not hunt for flies at any time, as most other fishes do : 

 he is an excellent fish to enter a young Angler, be- 

 ing easy to be taken with a small red-worm, on, or 

 very near to the ground. He is one of those leather- 

 mouthed fish that has his teeth in his throat, and will 

 hardly be lost from off the hook if he be once strucken. 

 They be usually scattered up and down every river in 

 the shallows, in the heat of summer ; but in autumn, 



