^4 



THE ROACH. 



very, very fine, and require delicate handling. Some con- 

 siderable skill and patience is required in landing roach from 

 lib. to i^lb. on this very frail tackle, so perhaps until our 

 novice has had some experience in the matter, it will be ad- 

 visable to begin with three X drawn gut, and work up to 

 the finer size as he feels more confidence in himself. A sud- 

 den bite when he was hardly prepared for it might make | 

 him feel a little flurried, and cause him to strike harder tharii | 

 necessary. If he were using the very finest tackle, and the 

 roach a good one, a smash would be nearly a certainty, and 

 his s\Ndm and sport spoiled for an hour or two afterwards^ 

 I need not say, I suppose, that it is necessary to fish as light 

 as possible in these deep, quiet, or semi-quiet waters. The 

 float is one of the most important articles in the roach fisher- 

 man's outfit, and should be of such a character, and shotted 

 in such a manner, that it will indicate the very smallest 

 nibble. I find, as already hinted, that a porcupine quill is 

 as good, in fact better, than any other that can be used, and 

 the size of it and number of shots on the gut line will depend 

 on the character of the water operated upon. In some 

 waters it is necessary for the bait to be a slowly sinking one^ 

 while in others it must sink quickly for reasons that will be 

 stated and described directly. I have seen all sorts of roach 

 floats in use, some of them a mixture of quill, cork, and 

 wood, but many of them are liable to become water-logged, 

 and this is not desirable, even in the smallest degree, es- 

 pecially for roach fishing in still water. 



The novice now finds himself confronted with a very 

 simple question, and one which at the first glance seems easy 

 to answer. It is this : What is a roach bite ? I ask the 

 tyro this question in all sincerity. In all probability nine 

 out of ten will answer straight as a dart, with a little laugh 

 at being asked such a very simple question, " Why, when a 

 roach takes the bait in his mouth and pulls the float clean 

 down out of sight." Yes, this is one kind of a roach bite, I 

 will admit, but it also is one that the angler does not very 

 often get. At odd times, when he seems to be perfectly 

 reckless in his feeding, and will quietly suck down the bait 

 at nearly every swim,, any tyro can scarcely miss them. At 

 these odd times that answer will apply, but, fortunately for 



