152 HINTS ON ANGLING. 



certainly must admit it to be a successful bait; but it is 

 an extremely difficult job to keep it on the nook, and 

 after all, it is not comparable to the yellow cow-dung 



% 



In roach-fishing, when a float is used, it should be a 

 very very small one ; a bit of quill, an inch long is quite 

 sufficient: one small shot No. 7, will sink the gut without 

 drawing down the float, and this timid fish will be unable 

 to distinguish it from a straw on the surface of the 

 water. 



Morning and evening are the best parts of the day for 

 roach-fishing in the ordinary way ; but the angler who 

 uses flies, alive or dead or artificial, will find all hours of 

 the day, pretty much alike. The Londoners angle for 

 this fish with tackle of the finest possible description 

 even with lines made of a single horse hair, and many of 

 them are very successful performers with this frail mate- 

 rial. But where is the good of it? Gut is fine enough, 

 and the roach that breaks it, when in the hands of a 

 skilful angler, must be of extraordinary dimensions. 



Ground-bait is recommended previously to angling for 

 this fish. Our opinion on this subject is not doubtful: we 

 would rather abstain from angling for the sort of fish 

 which are supposed to require it, all the days of our life, 

 than descend to the nasty and unsportsmanlike practice. 



THE RUDD, or as the French more properly call him 

 the roach-carp, must be angled for precisely in the same 

 manner as for the roach. 



for tjje 



This is a merry little fish, and may be caught nearly all 

 the year round ; but August and September are the best 



