12 THE ROACH 



when put together is what I call a perfect fourteen-foot roach- 

 rod, and by being built in different lengths for each joints- 

 gives the necessary stiffness without extra weight, and the 

 shortness of the tapered top gives it the sharp, prompt, and 

 accurate strike so beloved by a first-class roacher. 



My object in being so particular in this matter of a rod 

 is to give the tyro or youthful angler a bit of sound advice 

 which is the result of many years* experience, and also my 

 anxiety to save him unnecessary expense in the matter of 

 purchasing a rod. He might pick one out of stock that for 

 the moment took his fancy, only to find, after a few trials by 

 the riverside, that it was not at all suitable for the purpose,, 

 and another expense would be necessary. When selecting 

 a roach rod for these deep still waters he must carefully 

 eschew rods that have a lot of play in them nearly down to 

 the butt. Never mind what any shopman may advise, select 

 the rod that has the fewest joints (no more than four at the 

 outside) ; see that it is light in hand, and above all nice and 

 stiff, with a strike that seems to be a sort of a switch direct 

 from the end of the point, and I might again add, no material 

 in my opinion is so good for a long roach rod as East India 

 cane and lancewood. The rings, too, of the rod should be 

 carefully looked at; the loose lay-down pattern should not 

 be had at any price. They should be stiff stand-up rings, 

 either " Bells Life " or safety for the lower two joints, and 

 snake rings for the top. It must be clearly understood that 

 the rod, reel, line, floats and tackle I describe and recomr 

 mend in this chapter are for use in deep quiet waters. 

 Tackle suitable for fishing down streams will be touched 

 upon in the chapter on " Stream Fishing for Roach." 



Some roach anglers discard a reel altogether ; they simply 

 have a few yards of silk hne, and tie one end of it about 

 halfway down the rod ; of course, when this plan is adopted 

 every fish must be played and killed with a tight line. Now, 

 I am decidedly in favour of a reel and a few yards of extra 

 line, because it is necessary to fish with the very finest gut 

 that is drawn, and if a very good roach is hooked a sudden 

 plunge when at full length of the tether might result in 

 breakage, whereas if a reel and running line is employed 

 this danger is nothing near so apparent; besides, the angler 



