SOME RENNET DAYS 63 



the piles, worked upstream, and eventually netted a 

 roach of one and a half pounds, which proved to be 

 hooked in a fin and not in the mouth. Soon afterwards 

 in the same place something else was hooked which at 

 once bolted through the far arm of the Stop between two 

 posts and under the wire, and plunged into the near 

 arm at my feet, where it remained immovable. I 

 could do nothing but hang on and trust to luck, since 

 the wire was between me and the rod-point and the 

 line beneath it. At last the fish yielded to the strain 

 and came out, now visible as a fine perch, and not a 

 trout, as I had at first feared. Executing a strategic move- 

 ment with the net, I got him just as he was meditating 

 a turn round one of the posts one and a half pounds. 

 The fine gut was now frayed pretty well to tatters, 

 so I put on a rather stronger cast, stripping a fly to 

 serve as hook, and tried forcible restraint with the 

 next fish. The light seven-ounce rod was bent nearly 

 double, but the perch never got into danger, and was 

 netted another pounder. Then came a fourth, a little 

 heavier, and afterwards I hooked a bigger one. It 

 followed the instant strain quietly enough till it was 

 clear of the obstructions, but then it realized its 

 situation, and dashed down on my side of the Stop 

 and under the punt, dragging the rod-point deep into 

 the water. I have seldom had such a fight, even with 

 a trout, and more than once I feared for the rod. It was 

 a relief when at last the meshes of the net received what 

 I felt sure was a two and a half pounder. As a matter 

 of fact, it was just short of two pounds. This fish had 

 exhausted the last of the worms, so perch-fishing 

 seemed at an end. But a peep into the interior of the 

 punt well revealed three minnows left there by some 



