62 ANGLING FOR COARSE FISH. 



This brings me to the portion of the subject which I have 

 kept Tintil last, namely, 



Baiting-np Roach Fitches. — I can hardly advise the 

 beginner to bait up roach swims, for after he had got the 

 fish together, and on the feed, at a considerable expenditure 

 of trouble, and perhaps money, he would probably either 

 scare them all away or make them so suspicious by his 

 clumsy fishing that all his trouble would be wasted. His 

 better plan is to stop not too long at one pitch, shifting 

 as soon as he has succeeded in scaring the fish — a condition 

 of affairs which is easily and quickly brought about. The 

 old hand, on the contrary, baits up one or two swims for 

 several days in advance, then fishes them quietly and carefully, 

 and catches many and large fish. 



As a general rule, roach afford very good sport in rivers 

 without any ground-bait more than that which is thrown in at 

 the time of fishing. Sometimes, during the hot months, 

 when the roach get very shy, I bait up a swim with a bait 

 new to the place, with success. For instance, once at Henley, 

 when no roach were being caught, I baited up a deep swim 

 with creed wheat for four days, then fished with wheat — a 

 bait which, as a general rule, is not much used in the Thames — 

 and had good sport. Every evening for a week I went to 

 the same swim, and never left it without a nice basket of 

 fish. The quantity of bait thrown in would be about two 

 pints of wheat each evening. Had I been going to fish in 

 the morning, I should have baited in the morning, and so 

 made the fish expectant of food about the time I was 

 prepared to present them with some inclosing a hook. 

 Can-ion gentles are excellent for baiting up places for roach, 

 in either rivers or still waters. In ponds, they are, of course, 

 thrown in loose ; but in rivers, if the stream is strong enough to 

 wash them away, they should be mixed up with clay. It is 

 not a bad plan to place a number in a paper bag with a stone 

 and sink them. The bag does not burst until it has been 

 on the bottom some time. Another excellent plan in rivers 

 is to tie a large stone to half a loaf, and sink it in a swim 

 one or two days before you fish, the hook-bait, of course. 



