CHAPTER VII. 



THE DACE 



{BABE OB BABT). 



Habits and Haunts — Bottom- fishing — Baits and Ground-haits — 

 Flies and Fly-fishing — Eyed Hoohs and Knots — Blow-line 

 Fishing. 



AGE are brigM, silvery, graceful, slender 

 little fish, which, often find their way into 

 the roach-fisher's creel. In colour they 

 are almost entirely silvery, and the fins lack 

 that tinge of red which is noticeable in the 

 chub and the roach. They are easily dis- 

 tinguished from a small chub by the anal 

 fin, which in the dace is almost colourless, 

 but in the chub pink. The dace is common to all rivers con- 

 taining coarse fish, and is frequently found in trout- streams, 

 to the detriment of the trout; but it is absent from Ireland. 

 It is rarely, or never, found in ponds or lakes which are not 

 fed by streams of some kind or another. Dace are very rarely 

 taken over lib. in weight ; indeed, few anglers have caught one 

 even so heavy as that. 



Dace spawn in the spring, and then, like chub, barbel, and 

 several other varieties of fish, spend a few weeks in very shallow, 

 swift waters, for the purpose of scouring themselves. Later 

 on they spread over the river in all sorts and conditions of 

 swims, but in the evening, during the hot months, may always 

 be looked for on gravelly swallows. In winter, they retire to 

 deep water, and even in late summer the large fish will usually 

 be found in swims of considerable depth. They are often found 



