40 ANGLING FOR COABSE FISH. 



been fishing with gentles, but have had so few of these latter 

 that I could not add any to the ground-bait, I have often 

 met with poor success imtil I tried as hook-bait a fragment 

 of inner crust {broken, not cut, off the loaf), which, of course, 

 resembled a piece of the ground-bait as nearly as possible. 



Having put in three balls of ground-bait, each with a few 

 gentles inside, I begin fishing. The tackle is dropped into 

 the water just in front of me, and allowed to pass quietly down 

 with the stream. I am. careful to neither check the float nor 

 let any line lie on the surface of the water. When the float 

 has gone as far as the line will allow, I lift it out of the water 

 with a slight turn of the wrist, which would cause any fish 

 that might be holding on to the bait at the end of the swim 

 to be hooked. I repeat the process — not a bite I and I take four 

 swims before anything happens. The roach, probably, are not 

 there, but they may come yet, for the shoals do not remain 

 stationary when on the feed. In the middle of the fifth swim 

 I notice that my float is checked for an instant. Before it 

 can go under I give a slight upward movement of the 

 wrist, and at once feel I have something on, and I have the 

 pleasure of playing and landing the fish. 



It should be stated, as regards roach-bites, that the angler 

 cannot strike too soon. Large roach do not, as a rule (they do 

 sometimes), bite boldly. They are so cautious in taking the bait 

 that often only the slightest movement of the float is discernible. 

 If a roach goes off with the bait, the float of course goes under, 

 but the roach immediately leaves go on feeling the pull of the 

 float, and the angler strikes too late. If the float is only checked 

 a little, or inclines to one side or the other, the angler should 

 strike. Mind, I am talking of large, shy, river roach, not of the 

 hungry little fellows who would swallow rod, angler, and all, if 

 their stomachs were only as large as their appetites. Half the 

 secret of successful roach-fishing lies in the strike, and on this 

 portion of the subject I can usefully add nothing more, for the 

 art of striking can only be learnt by practice. An experienced 

 roach-fisher will detect bites when a beginner would see no sign 

 of movement in the float. As a rule, the farther the angler 

 is from the fish the bolder they bite. 



