50 HINTS ON ANGLING. 



voracious when hungry, and will dash at any thing that 

 comes in his way. Indeed, he will often follow a smaller 

 one of his own species when hooked, and make every effort 

 to devour it. In short, he is altogether, when large, one of 

 the best fish for sport which the fresh waters contain. 



The perch is gregarious, and in the matter of taking- 

 bait remarkably imitative ; so that when you have caught 

 one, you should invariably remain some time in the 

 same place, as there is every probability you will ultimately 

 get all there are. This is so commonly understood among 

 anglers, that it is quite a proverbial matter, known to 

 every school-boy, and invariably acted upon by all the 

 lovers of the gentle craft. 



In March and April, and perhaps in May, according to 

 the season, the perch cast their spawn, so that they should 

 be suffered to remain unmolested at least until July or 

 August. In May and June they are out of condition, 

 and are then of a pale bad colour and most execrable 

 flavour, very different from the deep bright hues which 

 make them like bars of gold in the water, and the sweet, 

 firm flesh which distinguishes them in September and 

 October. 



The perch is very prolific. Picot, of Geneva, opened 

 a fish of a pound weight, the ovarium of which weighed 

 a quarter of a pound, and contained 992,000 eggs. Their 

 increase in favourable situations must consequently be 

 enormous. 



This fish reaches a considerable size. Some authors 

 affirm that he has attained a weight of nine or ten 

 pounds. Perch have been occasionally caught in Whittlesea 

 mere of six pounds ; and we ourselves took a few, five arid 

 twenty years ago, which reached within a few ounces of 

 four pounds each. During the severe winter of 1844 and 



