THE ROACH. 89 



stamping up and down the bank, or a peering over into it, 

 or working a plumb all over it, to see how deep it is, are all 

 fatal to the success of the roach fisher. His motto must be 

 "fine and far off," thus to keep out of sight as much as 

 possible. Then, and then only, with suitable tackle, baits, 

 and a good swim, he may stand a chance of deceiving a few 

 roach. 



The roach is a member of the carp family, and his specific 

 name is Cyprinus Rutilus. When in good condition he is 

 a handsome fish. One writer, paraphrasing Yarrell, thus 

 describes him. " The colour of the upper part of the head 

 is dusky green, with blue reflections, becoming lighter on the 

 sides, and passing into silvery white on the belly, the irides 

 yellow, cheeks and gill covers silvery white ; dorsal and caudal 

 fins pale brown, tinged with red ; pectoral fins orange red ; 

 ventral and anal fins bright red ; the scales are rather large, 

 marked with consecutive and radiating lines ; large eyes, the 

 circles of which are of a gold colour, and the iris red ; their 

 scales are very smooth, except during and just after spawning 

 time, when they feel to the touch like a nutmeg grater." 

 This seems to me to be a pretty fair description, and any one 

 reading it, who has never seen a roach, would come to the 

 conclusion that he is a very handsome fish. He also has a 

 small head and a leather mouth, with a pecular top lip. 

 This lip, if you take hold of it, raise it, and bring it forward, 

 shows to you that it has the power of elongation, and that 

 it is shaped something like a hood. This power seems to prove 

 that the fish can take his food on the bottom like a barbel ; 

 or retaining the lip in its ordinary position that he can take 

 a bait in midwater, or on the surface like a dace. I have 

 found, however, that roach are, for the most part, a ground- 

 feeding fish. As an illustration I may say, I was only last 

 year fishing a good swim with a friend. The swim was well 

 baited, and we both had to stand side by side, and allow 

 our floats and baits to travel down together ; we each fished 

 with the same bait. I fished, however, on the bottom, and 

 he was some eight or ten inches above it. We did this by 

 mutual consent, and during the whole of the time he never 

 caught a roach, and I did not take a single dace. We both 



