PART III. 



THE ROACH. 



CHAPTER I. 



ROACH AND ROACH FISHING. 



Roach Fishermen — Ancient v. Modern Roach — Shyness of Roach — 

 Fecundity of Roach — A Remarkable Incident — How did they get them f — 

 Description and peculiarities of Roach — Habits and haunts of Roach — 

 Food of Roach — Weight of Roach — Good bags — Roach fishing — The 

 Sheffield style — The Nottingham style — Still water Roaching — Striking 

 with a wobbly rod. 



" The Roach, whose common kind to every flood doth fall.' 



Bottom fishermen, and their name nowadays can be 

 called legion, dearly love a day's roach fishing. It hardly 

 matters whether they make a speciality of chub, or barbel, 

 oi' bream; they are nevertheless always ready for a bit of 

 roaching. There is also a large class of anglers who' con- 

 fine their attention exclusively to this branch of fishing; 

 they are never tempted toi try any other, and I have fan- 

 cied mone than once that they rather prided themselves oo 

 the fact. But there is one thing certain ; a successful 

 roach fisherman stands on the very highest rung of the 

 angling ladder. He must be possessed of great skill, 

 patience and ingenuity, and also of a thorough knowledge 

 of the habits of the fish. He must also be able toi detect 

 the places where ro^ach are likely to be fo'und, and know 

 what places they avoid ; he must pay particular attention 

 to a numiber of the most minute details, a good swim, must 

 be selected, and then it must be fished at the exact depth ; 

 a very fine tackle must be used, and in hooking a roach 

 the angler must have the orthodoK roach trick, and do it 



B 



