THE PERCH OF STILL WATERS 255 



but the sides and belly were of a bright silvery hue 

 almost like that of a roach. 



In Lake Zurich I had a somewhat similar experi- 

 ence. Rowing down the lake from Zurich to a farm- 

 house where I was to stop for a few days, I again put 

 out my little spinning minnow, and the perch bit 

 freely. I forget now how many I caught, but it was a 

 very satisfactory, not to say useful, bag of fish, for 

 we were far from the sea, and the perch is good eating. 

 In the Irish lakes I rarely caught perch when trolling 

 for pike or trout, unless I was using a bright, glittering 

 artificial spinner. I have, indeed, caught many more 

 perch on artificial baits than on natural baits. In 

 Lough Corrib and many other waters perch show a 

 marked preference for red. I heard of one large 

 fish which took up its quarters by a yacht's moorings, 

 and refused all kinds of baits until it was proffered a 

 fragment of red cloth, when it fell. 



Somewhat akin to spinning is the use of very small 

 metal baits which are easily cast by means of a fly rod. 

 Some of these are shaped like spoons, others are 

 little more than a pair of silver-plated revolving fans. 

 These are used when perch are shoaling on the 

 shallows, and therefore near the surface, as they are 

 often found in the hot days of summer. I caught 

 a brace on the same fly, if fly it may be called, in the 



