THE PERCH. 113 



about accurately plumbing the depth, or carefully ground- 

 baiting a swim, or any one of the hundreds of minute details 

 that go towards making, say, roach fishing such a fine art. 

 " Yes," some of you may say, " this is all very well talking 

 about those ill-fed and hungry pond perch taking anything 

 that is off^ered them, but what about a good well-fed river 

 perch, that has a plentiful supply of small fry knocking 

 about next door to him, as it were?" As the old saying 

 goes, " this is a horse of another colour." A boy with a 

 bent pin, a thick bit of gut, a heavy lead, and a rough home- 

 made float, won't make much impression on him, he might 

 catch one or two by accident during certain conditions of 

 the water; but, say, during August, September, and Octo- 

 ber, when the rivers have run down very clear and bright, 

 and even the knots on the tackle can be plainly seen deep 

 down in the water, Mr. Perch is a particular wide-awake 

 customer. To get them then you have to be as an old 

 friend of mine ])ut it, " as artful as a waggon-load of mon- 

 keys." You have got to use fine tackle, and you will have 

 to use it far off. The bait also will have to be delicate and 

 attractive, and mounted on the hooks in the most careful 

 manner. During the early part of the season, that is, latter 

 end of June and the first two or three weeks of July, perch 

 are not quite so careful as they are a little later on. At 

 that time they will very often take the small red worm or 

 the cad baits when dace fishing down the shallow streams or 

 run at a small artificial minnow. Just at that time they are 

 picking up after spawning and cleaning, but a month or two 

 later, when well fed and in good condition, they leave the 

 shallow streams and seek refuge in deeper water, under the 

 roots and hollows of an overhanging bank, in the deep and 

 quiet eddies, round about the woodwork of an old bridge, 

 in the deep and strong waters by the side of flags and rushes, 

 and in the deep eddies by the side of the swirling water 

 from a weir. It is then during the late summer and autumn 

 that the big ones take some catching. The very worst time 

 for poor Mr. Perch is after a sharp winter, when the ice and 

 frost have broken up, and the river is tearing down in high 

 flood. At this time they pack themselves together in large 

 numbers, seeking the quiet comers, eddies, and even deep 

 I 



