WINTER FISHING. 7 



river at this time of tlie year are absence of weeds, a lower 

 temperature of the water, and, generally, an increase in the 

 volume of water, and therefore an increase in the force of 

 the current. The water may also be more coloured than in 

 summer. I will leave this question of colour for the present, 

 and only consider the effects the other circumstances have 

 on the position of fish. The fish having now no weed-cover, 

 seek the deeper portions of the streams, and are no doubt 

 greatly influenced in this move by the change in the tempera- 

 ture of the water. Barbel, carp, gudgeon, and eels now cease 

 to afford any sport to the angler, and bream and tench bite 

 but rarely; but roach, dace, perch, chub, and pike feed well 

 in suitable weather, and are in prime condition. If the water 

 has increased much in volume, the difficulty is to find suf- 

 ficiently quiet swims, for swims which were suitable in summer 

 cannot now be fished on account of the increased force of 

 the current. Chub will be in the same swims as in August, 

 except when the stream has become too strong for them; but 

 the other fish shift about a good deal, according to the height 

 and colour of the water. If no quiet swims with gravelly 

 or sandy bottoms are to be found, those with a muddy bottom 

 may be tried. In such places I have frequently made good 

 bags of roach and perch. If the water is as low as it usually 

 is in summer, and the weather open, not very much difference 

 will be found in the position of the fish (pike excepted) in 

 winter and summer, due allowance, of course, being made for 

 the absence of weeds. 



As a rule, most coarse fish are caught in winter, when 

 rivers are clearing after floods, and it is floods and coloured 

 water which make the greatest difference in the position of 

 the fish. Floods drive them into the eddies and quiet corners 

 where they can get out of the great force of the stream, and 

 where, no doubt, their food collects. Colour in the water 

 has the pecular effect of bringing fish on to the shallows, and 

 the thicker the water, the shallower are the swims in which 

 they wiU be found. I have caught roach in winter, when the 

 river has been very thick, in not more than 18in. of water. 

 Had the water been clear at that season, I should have fished 



