228 



MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



considered a really good fish, but there is a specimen in Letch- 

 worth museum, caught in the River Ivel, near Baldock, which 

 turned the scale at one pound eight ounces, whi'ch is surely almost 

 a record for this small species. 



FIG. 94. DACE. 



On the Norfolk broads we used, when I was a boy, to catch 

 boat-loads of fat Bream and small Eels, but it was poor sport, 

 and I could never understand why, at the end of the day, all the 

 fish were thrown away. The Bream is not of sportive disposition. 

 It is a tender-mouthed fish, and, when it secures the bait, it rises, 

 and thus releases one's float, until the latter falls over flat on the 

 water. Then is the time to strike. 



It was on the broads I first made acquaintance with the Great 

 Crested Grebe and Bearded Tit, and, although I have returned 

 in later years to watch both birds and fish, rather than to catch 

 them, it is up to me to admit that, had it not been for my ex- 

 periences with rod and line, I should not have had an opportunity 

 of being introduced to these two rare British birds so early in 

 life. When other fish failed me, I used to seek out the social 

 Gudgeon, which, of all fresh-water fishes, seems to prefer the 

 bed of a fast-running stream, especially where there is a gravelly 

 bottom. 



But the Gudgeon is a very fastidious creature in regard to its 

 diet, and, if the fish are not on the feed, it is almost impossible 

 to get them to partake of the tempting morsel that is offered. 



