PIKE, PERCH, BREAM, AND ROACH 149 



pools where piles are driven in to protect the 

 banks. They are sure to get round the piles 

 if the weather is bright and warm, and then 

 a blue-bottle fly on a small hook, with one 

 shot above it, just sufficient to sink the fly 

 beneath the water's surface, will do good 

 work. 



The finer your tackle is, the better will your 

 sport be, always taking it for granted that you 

 know the habits of the fish. River roach are 

 very different as to their general habits, and 

 even in some instances as to their outline, from 

 those which are found in reservoirs and ponds; 

 and of this fact all practical anglers are aware. 

 One of the best fishermen of the present time, 

 when he published his fine work on fishing, 

 only gave a pen-and-ink sketch of the roach 

 for general purposes, because the colour of this 

 fish varies according to the waters or water from 

 which it has come. The patience of a roacher 

 might be proverbial ; large fish bite so fine at 

 times that the movement of the float is barely 

 noticed. Yet the roacher is happy in finding 

 himself in pleasant places, where cattle graze 

 contentedly knee -deep in the herbage by 

 the river, which is barred by locks, mile after 

 mile. Or perhaps he will visit for a time 



