26 LONDON ANGLER'S BOOK, 



bottom. They spawn in May, and are always iii 

 season, except at that time. Fine tackle and small 

 hooks are necessary to take these fish ; you may have 

 three or four hooks on at once, either as flies or baited. 

 They are well tasted, and are not particular as to their 

 feeding, taking either gentles, paste, or worms : they 

 are a good bait for large trout when used as a spinning 

 bait, and for Jack in a thick water. Many Bleak are 

 taken in the Thames and Lea by whipping with a 

 small black gnat or the natural house fly. They are 

 excellent practice for the young fly fisher. The largest 

 I ever saw was taken at Cheshunt, in the Lea, Sep- 

 tember I6th, 1832; it was 7 inches long. 



o 



THE LOACH. 



The Loach is nearly the color of the Gudgeon, but 

 darker, and longer in proportion to the thickness; it is 

 barbed and wattled like the Barbel, and feeds close 

 to the bottom ; he is found in small rivulets, and is 

 easily taken with a bit of red worm, which may be put 

 before him without disturbing him from the bottom, 

 of which he almost appears to form a part from his 

 color. They are sweet food and are recommended to 

 sick persons as extremely nourishing ; they are slimy 

 and without scales, and are a good bait, especially for 

 Eels. I have taken four or five dozen at a time in the 

 waste water stream of Large's Mill, Southend, Kent. 



