32 ANGLING FOE COARSE FISH. 



top lips, wHcli come down like the hood of a bathing-machine ; 

 in roach the under lip projects. Hybrids between roach and 

 rudd are not unknown. 



I want it to be understood at the outset that roach-fishing, 

 so far as the larger fish are concerned, is not a very simple 

 operation. It is the fashion with a certain number of fly-fishers, 

 more especially those who fish exclusively for salmon, to talk 

 Bomewhat slightingly of roach-fishing, and of bottom fishing 

 generally. Now the truth is that in respect of clear-flowing 

 rivers which are often visited by anglers, roach-fishing has been 

 quite as much reduced, or rather elevated, to a fine art, as 

 salmon-fishing, if not more so. The difficulties of getting the 

 fish to take the bait are certainly not less with roach than 

 with salmon, and there is not so great a difference as might 

 be supposed in the skill required after the fish are hooked. 

 The salmon-fisher plays his twenty-pounder with the strongest 

 gut; the roach-fisher plays his one-and-a-half -pounder on a 

 single hair. Let the two change rods, and I warrant me the 

 roach has a better chance of escape than the salmon. But if you 

 agree with me that the skill displayed by the roach-fisher is, 

 in its way as much to be admired as that exhibited by the 

 salmon-fisher, I will gladly grant that the salmon-fisher has 

 the advantage in respect of the splendid exercise his favourite 

 sport enables him to enjoy, the lovely scenery through which 

 it takes him, and the glorious battles which every now and again 

 he wages with the king of fresh-water fish. 



To come to the more practical portions of my subject, roach 

 swim in shoals varying from a dozen to an uncountable num- 

 ber, and usually feed close to the bottom. There are, broadly 

 speaking, two methods of fishing on or near the bottom for 

 roach: first, with float tackle; second, with leger tackle. Both 

 plans are capable of many variations, and occasionally the 

 two are combined. The exact method to be followed depends 

 on the time of year and the character of the swim, the 

 skiKul angler varying his tackle accordingly. In ordinary 

 float-fishing from the bank, either the light rod with the 

 extra butt — mentioned on page 13 — can be used, or the rods 

 made specially for the purpose (see p. 14). If the angler fishes 



