44 BOTTOM FISHING. 



used, as by such voracious and bold biters as perch 

 an ordinary worm hook for trout fishing will be 

 paunched without difficulty. 



In rivers, in the early part of the season, perch 

 are generally found in gently-flowing water, not 

 very deep. As the season advances, they locate 

 under hollow banks and by whirling eddies, or 

 smooth, gravelly-bottomed swims, but towards Sep- 

 tember and October they frequent the deepest parts 

 of the river, near roots, sunken sticks, or in other 

 fastnesses. Perch are gregarious ; care should, 

 therefore, be taken not suddenly to disturb a hole 

 or swim. They will run eagerly at the minnow, 

 especially in the summer months, but the method 

 by which most sport may be derived from them is 

 to cast for them with a trio of artificial red palmers 

 or caterpillars (double-hooked), attached to a 

 moderately strong fly cast, one at the point and the 

 others mounted upon gut lengths, and attached as 

 droppers. These are used as small flies, just as 

 when working them for trout, with this exception 

 when a fish is hooked no action is taken whatever. 

 The hooked fish will quickly be shown, and will work 

 the remaining palmers infinitely better than the 

 rodster can, and, incredible as it may seem, by this 

 means each lure will have secured its capture in a 

 very short time after the first was hooked, and the 

 difficulty of landing those contributions adds in no 

 small degree to the diversion. It sometimes happens 

 when the casts are full fine, or the fish extra large, 

 that a loss of a portion of the gut, together with its 



