216 THE PERCH 



be at one standing all catch'd one after another; 

 they being like the wicked of the world ; not afraid, 

 though their fellowes and companions perish in the 

 fight. 7 This is true enough, but the statement 

 applies more particularly to winter fishing ; and, 

 paradoxical as it may seem, while the perch, like the 

 wicked of the world, show no fear when their com- 

 rades are slaughtered, should one escape slaughter 

 by getting off the hook the whole shoal are very apt 

 to take alarm, and either seek refuge in flight or 

 sullenly refu.se the tempting minnow. 



Walton's advice that when a perch bites he should 

 be given ample time to get the hook well into his 

 mouth is good if taken in moderation. Other writers 

 who have followed Walton go a step further and 

 insist upon the perch being allowed to gorge the 

 bait, remarking that this will necessitate the use of a 

 disgorger ! 



The sportsmen of to-day, dreading the extermina- 

 tion of these plucky, cautious, and most wholesome 

 little fish, very wisely not only decline to fish in May, 

 but in many waters make regulations by which fish 

 under a certain length (seven or eight inches) have to 

 be returned to the water. The gorging proposition 

 which involves the destruction of fish of all sizes, no 

 longer holds good, and perch are for the most part 



