THE RUDD. 6 1 



on the bottom, but rather look for him on the shallows, in the 

 little runs among the weeds, and where the undergrowth is 

 the most dense, providing this growth is in places some little 

 distance under llie surface, with all sorts of bunches of weeds, 

 flags, rushes, r.n J water-lilies scattered around. If our angler 

 is, as he ought to be, of an observ^ant nature, he will probably 

 notice a sudden and huge swirl in the water, perhaps where 

 the weeds are thickest ; this is a rudd. A bream, generally 

 rises in a deliberate manner, puts his back fin out of the 

 w^ater, and rolls over with a lazy flop ; a roach mostly rises 

 from the bottom in a slanting direction, and shows himself 

 with scarcely a break ; but a rudd seems to give himself up to 

 the full enjoyment of his rise, and swirls over in the ^^'ater 

 with a decided splash, sending the tiny waves across the 

 stream in ever-widening circles, till finally lost among the flags 

 and rushes on either side. A little practice and observation 

 will soon enable the angler to tell with tolerable precision if 

 it was a rudd that broke the surface, and also if it was a 

 large one, and practice alone can teach him, the best method of 

 speedily adding that particular rudd to his basket. We have 

 now found that the fish are at home, and this home appears 

 to be deep among the fastnesses of the flags and weeds ; the 

 next idea is to get them out into- the little open spaces and 

 runs between the bunches of weeds, so that a bait can be 

 presented to them wath some chance of successfully landing 

 them when hooked ; for this purpose, if I may be allowed 

 to use an expression that looks at first sight ver}- like an Irish 

 bull, it is a good plan to ground bait on the surface. Little 

 bits of bread about two inches long and an inch wide and 

 them when hooked; for this purpose, if I may be allowed 

 these bits must be thrown carefully and accuratelv on the 

 stream, so that it floats gently down that run that looks the 

 most handy for getting your hook bait in, if the fish are in 

 a biting humour, out they come into the clear water, show- 

 ing their fins and bodies, rolling over the bread, poking at 

 it with their noses, and smacking their lips at it in keen 

 ■enjoyment; now is your time. Out goes the bait with a 

 clean cast that must be long and accurate, and if this is 

 done properly, in three seconds you are most probably fight- 

 ing it out to the bitter end with a good two-pounder. 



