SPECIALISING. 5 1 



above the swim, and as they melt the fragments 

 should be washed down into it, and make the fish 

 feed. Lastly, the angler baits his hook with a pellet 

 of the bread paste just large enough to cover it, 

 and moulded to its shape, so that the point of the 

 hook is scarcely hidden, swings his line out over 

 the water (there is a knack about this which needs 

 practice ; the motion should be steady, without a 

 jerk, lest the bait fly off the hook), and begins to 

 rish. The float has to cock at the spot where he 

 first took the depth, and to travel without interrup- 

 tion down stream as far as the length of rod will 

 allow. Between the rod-point and the float there 

 should be about two yards of line, and the rod 

 should be held high, so that only a few inches of 

 this line are in the water. The reason of this is soon 

 apparent. At the second swim down the float bobs, 

 and then seems to be going steadily under. But it 

 never gets under ; the fish lets go, and the angler 

 raises his rod-point too late. Roach do not take 

 paste as perch take a worm ; they suck it into their 

 mouths, and often eject it immediately, the only 

 sign of the bite having been a slight stoppage or 

 dip of the float. Therefore the angler must always 

 be on the alert, and ready to raise his rod-point the 

 instant he detects a bite. There, at the next swim 



down the float dipped, the rod-point went up, and 



E 2 



