264, 



THE YOUNG ANGLER. 



THE RUFFE, OR POPE, 



Is by many considered as 

 only another variety of 

 perch, and certainly bears 

 a great resemblance to it, 

 having also a high dorsal 

 fin armed with sharp 

 spines; but its colour is 

 different, being a dusky 

 olive varied with black 

 spots ; and most naturalists have classed it in a different subdivision 

 of British fishes. It abounds most in slow, deep, quiet rivers that 

 have a loamy bottom, and must be fished for in those still, deep 

 places which are so often found near jetties, or where the banks have 

 been washed away year after year, and holes deep as wells have been 

 scooped out by the action of the water, but which are now quiet and 

 calm as an undisturbed rain-waterbutt. In angling for it, use a 

 quill float and a No. 7 hook; the moment you observe a bite, 

 strike, without allowing much line. The proper baits are small 

 red worms and brandlings, and they should be suffered to drag 

 lightly on the ground; throw in a ground- bait made of clay and 

 worms, if the water is clear, but if it is muddy, worms alone will do. 

 This fish will bite freely at any time of the day during summer, but 

 mostly in cloudy, sultry weather. 



THE BREAM 



Is more like a flat-fish 

 than any other frequent- 

 ing our English rivers, 

 excepting the flounder. 

 One of our popular 

 writers on angling says 

 he is like a pair of bel- 

 lows in shape, and much 

 of the same flavour. The bream is very narrow across the back, 

 which, as well as the belly, is greatly arched so much so, indeed, 

 as to make the form of the fish nearly an oval. He has a little bead- 

 pointed snout, small mouth, and no teeth, while in colour his back 

 is of a bluish iron-grey, inclining to white on the belly. Like the 

 pike, he loves to frequent still water, and though he is seldom taken 

 above one pound or two in weight, yet he has been known to grow 

 to an enormous size. The bream is principally found in large lakes 

 and still rivers. It is best to angle for it in May, when it is in 

 its prime, and from the end of July to the end of September ; and 

 in these months from sunrise till eight o'clock in the morning, and 

 from five o'clock till dusk in the evening. Use a gut line, quill 

 float, and No. 10 hook, and let the bait touch the bottom, or nearly 

 ,so. The angler should be very silent, keep from the edge of the water 

 as much as possible, and strike the instant the float is drawn under 

 the surface of the water. 



