THE ROACH. 



45 



is down the main river. The roach, driven by stress of 

 neavy water, and in search of flood, seek refuge in such places 

 as those, and if a few worms are clipped up small and thrown 

 In, a well-scoured cockspur on the hook may result in getting 

 a bag of big roach that will astonish the operator. The 

 grass slopes behind a bush, or the gravels by the side of an 

 old fence, even if no more than eighteen inches deep, are 

 very often rattling good places to tr)^ during a summer flood, 

 as the water there is generally quiet; but one thing must be 

 remembered : while the water is coming on is the time to tr}- ; 

 when the water is going down again the fish retire into the 

 main stream. Another favourite method of roaching is by 

 what is known among the Trent men as " stret-pegging." 

 This is a quiet, deadly sort of style, and deserves more than 

 just a passing notice. This style is generally practised in 

 swims where the current is not very strong (but still, remem- 

 ber, a stream' is absolutely necessary), and in places that can 

 be reached comfortably with the rod point. We \nll sup- 

 pose that four or five feet from the bank a long row of weeds 

 and flags are growing, immediately in front of these weeds 

 the water is from four to six feet deep, the bottom, of the 

 river clean and level, and just a little stream crawling along, 

 and our novice finds on seating himself on his stool that his 

 rod point will project a couple of feet over those weeds, he 

 has without doubt found a place that is exactly suited for 

 " stret-pegging." A s^^•an quill carrying some five or six 

 medium sized shot will be the thing for this purpose, and 

 this float must be put on the line a foot deeper than the 

 stream ; that is, if the water is four feet deep the float must 

 be five feet from the baited hook, and so on according to the 

 varying depths of the streams tried. Sit on the basket or 

 stool as low down and as close as possible, and if you can 

 keep out of sight behind the weeds all the better; but in 

 any case, have all your traps close at hand so that you can 

 pick anything up you require \nthout having to get up from 

 your seat. Sit quiet, don't keep jumping up and down; 

 these are golden rules, and must be observed. Drop a few 

 small bits of groundbait in, and then let the tackle travel 

 down stream until it is some four or five yards below ycu. 

 Hold it there stationary, the rod being straight in front of 



