ROACH-FISHING WITH SILK WEED. 49 



a very killing bait in tlie liot montlis. He lias taken Ms station 

 at the side of tlie weir, where he can reach a quiet eddy. The 

 depth is about 8ft., and the stream is so slight that he is able 

 to fish without shots. To make his float cock, he has simply 

 twisted a short length of lead wire round the end of it (self- 

 cocking floats are sold ready weighted). His line is of the 

 finest-drawn gut, and the shank of his hook (No. 9) is coloured 

 green by means of green sealing-wax dissolved in spirits of 

 wine. With his landing-net handle he has rubbed off a few 

 bits of the weed from the weir, and, after washing it well, winds 

 small pieces round his hook. He tells us that the larger the 

 bait, the larger the fish he takes, and he certainly has some 

 fine specimens in his creel. He says the silk weed is a better 

 bait near weirs than elsewhere, probably because it is natural 

 for the fish to find pieces of the weed in such places. " I often 

 cut open roach to find out on what they are feeding," he adds, 

 " and all the fish I catch in the weir-pool are stuffed with this 

 weed." We have a long chat with this angler, who is an 

 enthusiast, and he tells us of several baits to try when the 

 ordinary ones fail ; among others, caddis, mealworms — especially 

 good in mill-tails — small cubes of banana, fresh-water shrimps, 

 dried sheep's blood, and small cubes of boiled pork — the last 

 two as winter baits. 



Our conversation is put an end to by the appearance of 

 the keeper, who tells us that he has a punt, which he will 

 gladly place at our disposal if we feel inclined to do a little 



Fuut-fishing in the Thames Style. — He further offers 

 to take us to a first-rate pitch where the fish, which run large, 

 have not seen a line this season. The offer is too tempting 

 to be refused; we are soon on board our flat-bottomed craft, 

 which is divided into two unequal portions by what is termed a 

 well — i.e., a division into which the water flows freely, used 

 for holding live-baits for jack, trout, and perch. The well is 

 placed about one-third of the way from the stern, and on each 

 side of it is a comfortable Windsor chair. 



In due course we come to the promised swim, and see 

 at a glance that it is a good one. At this point the river is 

 very weedy, but just in the centre is a nan-ow run, not quite as 



F 

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