ROACH AND RUDD. 75 



their way up intervening rapids with persistent 

 energy, until they find a suitable spot usually a 

 weedy shallow in the higher reaches. 



After spawning they repair to the nearest swift 

 gravelly shallows to scour, and subsequently into 

 quieter currents, where they should be fished for 

 until September or October, when they begin to 

 retire for the winter into deep and still waters, 

 preferring usually a gravelly or sandy bottom. 



Roach and Rudd will occasionally take most of 

 the baits already described for Bream ; paste and 

 gentles, however, are the two best, and of these I 

 have found from experience that gentles are 

 usually both the most killing and the most reliable, 

 taking all waters and weathers throughout the 

 year. They are also much more convenient for 

 use because requiring to be seldom renewed. 

 Many anglers, in fact, go to the opposite extreme, 

 and acting on this circumstance, do not renew the 

 bait nearly often enough. Whenever the gentles 

 become dead and sodden, they ought to be re- 

 newed. Rudd and Roach also during cold 

 weather will often bite freely at the worm ; for 

 which purpose I have found the brandling most 



