THE BEST FLOAT. 71 



plan is to bait up (see pages 10 and 62) two or three likely spots, 

 and fish as for roach, with the leger float-tackle described 

 on page 47. A few broken worms should be thrown in 

 every now and again, to keep the fish on the feed. A single 

 No. 4 Round Bend hook or Stewart tackle may be used 

 for the bait. Large takes of fine perch are often made this 

 way. 



In both summer and winter, the angler, if using Nottingham 

 running-tackle, can cast his hook, baited with gudgeon or 

 minnow, into all kinds of likely places, or can let it float 

 down stream 20yds. in front of him while he follows in a boat, 

 When the float goes down, the angler should allow the fish 

 about a quarter of a minute before striking if the bait is a 

 minnow or worm — more if the bait is a gudgeon, less if a 

 shrimp. Some writers have advised cork floats for perch-fishing, 

 but as floats are, at the best, necessary evils, which only frighten 

 the fish, I imagine that the smaller they are, the less they 

 show, and the more quietly they go under water, the better, 

 and therefore I prefer the quill floats. Of course, the float must 

 be just so large that the gudgeon or minnow, as the case may be, 

 cannot pull it under. 



Legeriug for Perch is a first-rate method when the fish are 

 shy. Lobworms are the usual bait, but are not much use unless 

 the water is coloured, or the swim has been baited up with 

 worms.* A small gudgeon on a leger (see page 27) will kill 

 perch when the fish will look at nothing else; but the bottom 

 has, of course, to be very clear to allow the use of live-bait 

 on leger tackle. The leger is cast out exactly like a pater- 

 noster, but not moved so often, and is therefore suited for 

 fishing places where the perch which run large and shy are 

 known to lie, and have to be waited for. 



Lake and Fond Ferch-fishing. — This differs from river- 

 fishing in the slight difficulty — except in large lakes — of finding 

 the fish. In large lakes, trailing a small, bright, spinning 



* Perch may sometimes be attracted to a spot by sinking some meat-bones, 

 to Avhich there are still a few fragments of meat adhering. A glass bottle, con- 

 taining minnows, sunk to the bottom, has also been recommended, but I could 

 never meet with anyone who had found it useful. 



