FISHING AT A DISTANCE. 65 



much more golden, and both fins and eyes are of a 

 more brilliant red. In the second place it is deeper 

 in the flank and of a rounder profile more like 

 the bream in fact. In the third place it has 

 a recognisable physical trait by which it can 

 be distinguished from its cousin ; its back fin 

 instead of being set almost immediately over the 

 ventral fin is a good way behind it. But there is 

 no risk of confusing the two when they are set side 

 by side, the rudd being a golden fish and the roach 

 a silver. The rudd grows to be three pounds or 

 even more, but a fish of two pounds and a half is a 

 big one. Sometimes it will feed near the bottom 

 and take the baits used for roach and bream, but 

 in hot weather it more often has to be sought near 

 the surface after the following manner. 



The fish are generally found at the edge of beds 

 of reeds or rushes, among which they feed, and 

 one has to tempt them out before one can get at 

 them. The thing to do therefore is to moor the 

 boat twenty yards or more from some little bay in 

 the rushes which looks a likely spot and into which 

 the wind is blowing. Then pieces of dry bread 

 are dropped overboard and drift into the bay, being 

 brought up by the rushes. If the rudd are there 

 and in the mood it will not be long before they find 

 the bread and attack it vigorously. Then the 



