92 BOTTOM FISHING IN THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE. 



wooden bridge, and sometimes they are found in the shallows 

 of a mill tail. These are the places where roach are princi- 

 pally found, and it is in such places as those that the suc- 

 cessful roach fisher pursues his quarry. The food of roach 

 consists of grubs, flies, grasshoppers, worms, cad baits, weeds, 

 and water insects, gentles, bread, paste, rice, pearl barley, 

 creed malt, wheat, &c., &c. The last few that I have men- 

 tioned are the very best hook baits you can have. Indeed, 

 to put it correctly, gentles stand first, cad baits second, worms 

 next, then paste, pearl barley, creed wheat, and malt. These 

 baits, if they are properly used, are all that is required by 

 the bottom fisher for roach. 



As a fish for the table, they are a little better than chub 

 and barbel. Nicely fried, a good roach out of a gravelly 

 stream, during the autumn and winter months, is not to be 

 despised, and is a very palatable addition to the breakfast- 

 table. "The Freshwater Fisheries Act of 1878 "seems to 

 me to be hardly satisfactory as far as roach are concerned, for 

 on the 1 5th of March these fish are in the very best condi- 

 tion, and could very well be taken for another month that 

 is, as regards the Trent ; while on the 15th of June they 

 have not all of them done spawning, and for another month 

 at least they are slimy, lumpy, and in a generally wretched 

 state. I think, therefore, that anglers ought not to take them 

 before the middle of July. 



Having looked at the roach and his habits, we will turn to 

 the tackle that is necessary to take him ; the rod, reel, and 

 line described in Chapter II., and recommended for chub, 

 will do, but if the angler goes in for roach fishing alone, 

 then a rod that is lighter will be better ; such an one, for 

 instance, as I have now before me. The length is about 

 eleven feet tapered from the butt to the point to a nicety ; 

 wire guards are on the rings, and these prevent the line from 

 catching or hitching round them. Such a rod will hook a 

 roach in an instant, by that almost imperceptible turn of the 

 wrist so necessary in a good roach angler. It is well balanced, 

 and only weighs about 12 oz.; this is a splendid roach rod, 

 but, as I have said before, for the working-man angler who 

 goes in for general bottom fishing, and can afford only one 



