THE PERCH. 889 



where tlie watei becomes shallow, where they will take an 

 artificial % at the top, which should be small ; the camlet- 

 flj is perhaps the best, and the hook No. 7 or 8. 



When the water is not proper for flies, and they are angled 

 for below the surface, let gentles be used. Wasp-larv^, or 

 worms, and other insects, which inhabit cases, as well as 

 cad-bait, are eagerly taken by the grayling. Let the bait 

 sink as near the bottom as possible, and fish with two or 

 three hooks, with gentles on each, and angle with them in 

 the same manner as with artificial flies. Other anglers prac- 

 tise dragging these on the ground, as the grayling will rather 

 take it there than ascend to do so, and use a running-line ; 

 while others prefer a cork-float, insisting that the grayling 

 is more apt to rise than to descend.. 



THE PERCH. 



The perch diff'ers from all other fresh- water predatory fishes, 

 in being gregarious, and swimming in shoals ; and are so 

 voracious as to attack their own kind. In this country this 

 fish seldom attains a large size, their general length being 

 from ten to sixteen inches ; and these dimensions are full- 

 sized. A few solitary instances have occurred of much 

 larger ones being caught in Britain ; one is said to have 

 been taken in the Serpentine River, Hyde Park, London, 

 which weighed nearly nine pounds ; and one of eight pounds 

 was caught in Dagenham Breach, eight pounds weight ; and 

 one was taken near Oxford, twenty-nine inches long, and deep 

 in proportion. 



Perch are found as well in clear, swift rivers, with pebbly, 

 gravelly bottoms, as those of sandy, clayey soils ; they prefer 

 water moderately deep, and frequent holes by the sides of or 

 near to gentle streams, where there is an eddy ; the hollows 

 under banks, among roots of trees, piles of bridges, or in 



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