HOOK-BAITS FOR ROACH. 29 



buried in the paste, it is so easy for the hook to slip out 

 of the fish's mouth without fixing. The barley should be 

 boiled for from one-and-a-half to two hours. It should be 

 boiled indeed, until it has swelled out to the largest 

 size it is capable of expanding to, but not longer, or it gets 

 too soft to stay well on the hook. All sorts of recom- 

 mendations are offered in the matter of paste. Some 

 advise new bread, some stale ; I advise not bread at all, it 

 is apt to harden too much on the hook ; plain flour and 

 water is best. Take care it is well worked up and is not 

 too wet. The juste milieu in point of consistency is 

 difficult to hit, but it should be attained at all cost of 

 trouble, as it makes a long difference to one's comfort. 

 When made, keep your paste in a damp rag ; and if you 

 happen to be smoking the short stump of a cigar, don't 

 work up your paste with the same thumb and finger that 

 you keep on manipulating your cigar with. Fish do not 

 like the flavour of tobacco, and it is not difficult to com- 

 municate it to paste ; verb sap. I once lost an hour or 

 two's fishing in this way till I found out what was the 

 matter, and now I always wipe my fingers on a wet cloth 

 or work up the paste with the other hand. This is a trifle, 

 perhaps, and yet it is no trifle if it spoils your day's sport. 

 On the Trent creed-malt is a favourite roach bait, and else- 

 where boiled wheat has the call. It must be boiled for a 

 long time until it cracks indeed ; which requires some 

 two hours. Green wheat in the milky state is much used 

 in some places ; it lasts but a short time, however. One of 

 the most modern, and one of the best baits too, is the inner 

 brown crust of a well-baked loaf, the outer hard crust being 

 shaved off and the inner brown crust being cut into small 

 bits of the size of peas. It is used a good deal, even on the 

 Thames. 



The red worm is a tolerably good bait also for roach, 

 particularly in thick water, where the fish may have been 



