68 A BOOK ON ANGLING 



and a small gudgeon not four or five yards off, and the perch 

 were feeding all around us. As the summer advances, the 

 perch seek the deeper and stronger streams, the quiet eddies 

 and deep holes near piles, lock gates, piers of bridges, corners 

 of weirs, and by heavy weed banks. At this time they are 

 well fed and cautious, and will try the angler's skill to make 

 a good dish of them. As the season advances, and the winter 

 floods sweep down, they all draw into the great eddies, or still 

 corners, particularly after a sharp frost, and here they may 

 be found in great numbers ; and when the water is a little 

 coloured, they may be taken in from three to seven or eight 

 feet of water, or deeper, in any quantity, as they are then 

 hungry, though in good condition. As March comes on, they 

 get heavy in spawn, when they should not be disturbed. 

 By the middle of April they get amongst the weeds, rushes, 

 or fibrous roots of trees, in still backwaters, and here they 

 deposit their spawn in long ropy glutinous masses. It is 

 astonishing what a vast number of eggs the female perch will 

 void ; they are very small, and about the size and of the 

 appearance of little seed pearls. Perch spawn about the end 

 of April, and get into fair season again by the end of June. 



Perch may often be caught with a spinning minnow, but it 

 is not a very common method of angling for them, though the 

 best fish are usually so caught ; and I have known good execu- 

 tion done in lakes by spinning, either with a minnow (real or 

 artificial) or a spoon. Indeed, I almost think, from my ex- 

 perience, that I am justified in saying that they take a spoon 

 better than almost any other spinning bait ; but I have found 

 them prefer the triangular spinner made of spoon metal 

 (commonly called the " otter ") to the regular spoon, the only 

 reason I can give for it being that it spins better and more 

 evenly than the spoon, which wobbles a good deal, and though 

 this is liked by pike, and not always objected to by trout, 

 particularly lake trout, it would seem that it is not a strong 

 recommendation to perch. 



A handful or two of gentles or broken worms will be found 

 useful as ground-bait, when float-fishing with worms. But 

 whatever you do, do not take your wife's or sister's gold fish 

 globe out with a muslin cover on it, and a stock of lively 

 minnows inside, under the supposition that the perch will 

 rub their noses against the glass, like cats at a dairy window, 

 according to the old superstition. 



Perch are commonly taken with the fly in some parts of the 



