THE PERCH. 117 



old piers and piles of bridges, weir depths ; and it is then 

 that they are very shy, being well fed. It requires fine tackle, 

 and a very delicate bait to entrap them then. After a sharp 

 winter, when the frost has just broken up, and the river is 

 tearing down in high flood, the perch are driven into the still 

 comers and eddies, and at that time and in those places they 

 are sometimes congregated together in large numbers. They 

 have been on short commons most of the winter, and are 

 very hungry, and will then take almost anything, after the 

 water has cleared down a little. In good perch waters, I have 

 heard of as many as two hundred fine fish being taken out of 

 one hole, by two rods in a few hours, when they have been 

 in that condition. That instance is the exception, however, 

 and not the rule. In January and February they are taken 

 in the largest quantities, but in the autumn and early part of 

 the winter they are not to be had so easily. 



Perch spawn in April, and deposit their eggs on the weeds 

 and rushes, the submerged branches or fibrous roots of trees 

 or bushes in the still backwaters, or up ditches, and these 

 hang about the weeds, &c., like long festoons of lace ; it is 

 then that swans, &c., should be kept away, for they will 

 gobble up this spawn by the yard. One singular point in the 

 perch is that out of every dozen that is captured, eleven of 

 them are female fish. Some naturalists infer that the perch 

 are bisexual, and that they are self-concipient, but one thing 

 is certain they are very prolific, even a small perch contains 

 a vast quantity of eggs. Perch in some localities will reach 

 a considerable size. I have heard of them reaching a very 

 heavy weight in the Danube, but in England they very 

 seldom exceed the weight of four pounds, and this is by no 

 means common. A three-pound fish is a very heavy one, a 

 two-pounder is a good one, while a pounder or a three-quarter- 

 pounder is not to be despised, while even a dish of a half- 

 pound perch does not fall to the lot of the angler every day. 



