He (ffiarfcon. 



The ROACH is supposed to be so called, on account of the 

 redness of his fins. He is a poor mean fish as far as eating 

 goes; but he is a handsome, strong fish, and will afford 

 the angler capital sport when he rises at the fly, which he 

 commonly does about the months of August and Sep- 

 tember, both boldly and freely. 



Roach are gregarious. They love limpid and clear 

 waters, and yet are to be found in still and muddy rivers 

 and ponds. They frequent almost all the ponds, rivers, 

 and lakes in Europe; and in some places are incon- 

 ceivably numerous. Many of the rivers and ponds in 

 England are full of them ; and in France they are very 

 abundant everywhere, particularly in the neighbourhood 

 of Paris. In the marais of the Pas-de-Calais, and about 

 iVruimc there are millions of them. In some countries, 

 in the north of Europe, and particularly on the banks of 

 the Oder, they are so plentiful that they are commonly 

 used for manuring the land; and Bloch assures us, that 

 before the marais on the Oder were drained, such enor- 

 mous quantities were constantly caught, that they supplied 

 the neighbouring villages with abundance of provender 

 on which to fatten their pigs. 



Roach spawn about June, and, Walton says rightly, 

 may be fished for a fortnight after that process is accom- 

 plished. They cast their spawn in narrow, weedy, grassy 

 places, and are very prolific. In the ovarium of an or- 

 dinary sized roach, were counted 125,000 eggs. 



At a certain season the spawning season roach 

 have been observed to migrate like the salmon, trout, 

 carp, etc. " In the spring," says a French author, u the 



