CHAPTER XV. OBSERVATIONS OF THE GUDGEON, 

 THE RUFFE, AND THE BLEAK, AND HOW TO 

 FISH FOR THEM 



PISCATOR 



THE Gudgeon is reputed a fish of excellent taste, and to 

 be very wholesome : he is of a fine shape, of a silver 

 colour, and beautified with black spots both on his body 

 and tail. He breeds two or three times in the year, and always 

 in Summer. He is commended for a fish of excellent nourish- 

 ment : the Germans call him Groundling, by reason of his feeding 

 on the ground : and he there feasts himself in sharp streams, 

 and on the gravel. He and the Barbel both feed so, and do 

 not hunt for flies at any time, as most other fishes do : he is an 

 excellent fish to enter a young Angler, being easy to be taken 

 with a small red-worm, on, or very near to the ground. He is 

 one of those leather -mouthed fish that has his teeth in his 

 throat, and will hardly be lost from off the hook if he be once 

 strucken : they be usually scattered up and down every river 

 in the shallows, in the heat of Summer ; but in Autumn, when 

 the weeds begin to grow sour or rot, and the weather colder, 

 then they gather together, and get into the deeper parts of the 

 water ; and are to be fished for there, with your hook always 

 touching the ground, if you fish for him with a float, or with a 

 cork ; but many will fish for the Gudgeon by hand, with a run- 

 ning line upon the ground, without a cork, as a Trout is fished 

 for, and it is an excellent way, if you have a gentle rod and as 

 gentle a hand. 



There is also another fish called a Pope, and by some a 

 Ruffe, a fish that is not known to be in some rivers : he is 

 much like the Pearch for his shape, and taken to be better than 

 the Pearch, but will not grow to be bigger than a Gudgeon ; 

 he is an excellent fish, no fish that swims is of a pleasanter 

 taste, and he is also excellent to enter a young Angler, for he 



u 131 



