ANGLING FOR PERCH. 93 



trayed, should look at poor Arthur Smith's lithograph of 

 Kolfe's picture, called ' The Committee of Taste/ It is a 

 grand bit of expression, and the combination of greedi- 

 ness, inquisitiveness, pomposity, and funk, in the picture, 

 is perfectly delicious. But to my angling. 



There are various ways of catching perch. The first, 

 and mo^t common, is with the live minnow, or, if minnow 

 cannot be had, any other small fish, or fry of gudgeon, 

 dace, or roach, will do ; but these should only be used 

 when the angler has no other alternative, as, although the 

 perch is infinitely the more desirable and valuable fish, 

 fry should not be wasted. There are four ways of using 

 a minnow, all of which will take perch : viz. with a float 

 and either one or two nooks, or a paternoster with two 

 or three, with a loose line and roving minnow, or by 

 spinning. 



With the float, the lowest hook (if two are used) should 

 be two or three inches off the bottom, and the next one 

 should hang between mid-water and the bottom. The 

 best way of baiting the minnow is to pass the hook ten- 

 derly and carefully through the gristle of the upper lip ; 

 some choose the back tin, but a minnow so hooked neither 

 lives so long nor moves so freely as when hooked by the 

 lip. When a perch takes the float down, do not strike 

 directly, as the tackle used for this fishing being usually 

 fine, it is as well to make sure of him ; for, in spite of any- 

 thing that some sceptical anglers may say to the contrary, 

 the scratching and losing of one or two perch does most 

 indubitably very often I won't say always, because there 

 may be exceptions, but does very often drive the shoal 

 away. I have noticed it scores of times, and have heard 

 many good and experienced anglers verify the fact. There- 

 fore rather give him a little time, and even let him leave 

 the bait, or cut it off, in preference to being too hasty and 

 scratching him. 



