28 



THE JOLLY ANGLER. 



and strike the moment you see or feel a bite, if baiting; 

 with a gentle, but if with a rcorm orj?y, they will often 

 gorge it, in which case it is as well to let them go down with 

 it and then strike ; by which I do not mean that you are to 

 wait till they gorge it, only to take advantage of the direc- 

 tion the fish swims in with the fly or worm in his mouth, 

 which is generally across or down the stream slowly, 

 unlike the Trout, who turns sharp round upon seizing his 

 prey, by which means he frequently hooks himself, if you 

 are holding the rod tight. You will find this method 

 further described under the head of " Strolling with a 

 Bait;" * for the most usual manner of catching Dace, see 

 " Bottom Fishing." They spawn in April, and do not 

 feed much between October and February. 



THE BREAM. 



This fish has large scales, and is formed something like 



* Salter describes something of this sort under the head of trip- 

 ping a bait; he recommends a cane rod for this purpose, but I have 

 mostly used my fly rod, which has these advantages; first, the stream 

 being sufficiently strong to take off your line when you want it to go 

 further down the stream, by only drawing it off your winch and 

 gently jerking your rod; secondly, it does not check the tish when 

 they bite, like a stiff one ; and, thirdly, you may sometimes by 

 looking at the top of the rod see the motion caused by a bite that 

 you could not have otherwise seen or felt; but I must acknowledge 

 that I have generally had recourse to this style of angling, after 

 being unsuccessful with an artificial fly, so that I had only to take 

 off my fly, put on a gut hook, and was ready equipped for the 

 sport. In the Colne, otf the Weir nepr Iver, at Drayton Mills, and 

 in the Mole, about Leatherhead, I have taken many Dace, as well 

 as Trout and Perch, by these means. 



