THE ROACH. 93 



rod, the first-mentioned one will be the best ; if he goes in 

 for roach alone, he can, if he likes, have one of the very finest 

 Derby twist lines, instead of the next size recommended for 

 chub ; and his bottom tackle should also be of the very finest 

 gut he can buy. He should make his bottom tackle from 

 three to five feet in length, to suit the depth of the water ; 

 though a five-foot tackle will be long enough if he has to fish 

 fifteen feet deep. Some anglers use horsehair for their tackle, 

 which will do very well ; but I have seen gut thinner than 

 horsehair, and I am sure that fine gut is better in all respects 

 than hair. I have used no hair lately, and I have come to 

 the conclusion, after careful practice, that extra fine gut is 

 best. I think the best plan for roach tackle is to have an 

 extra fine-drawn gut bottom or trace, about a yard long, with 

 a loop at each end, and a dozen or so of various-sized roach 

 hooks, tied or whipped on single lengths of this extra fine 

 drawn gut, with a loop at the other end ; this loop is to be 

 joined to one of the loops of the trace, in the manner already 

 described elsewhere ; and the other loop of the trace is to be 

 fastened to the reel line, the number of shots required for 

 the float being put on the trace. This plan of your roach 

 tackle has two very good points in its favour ; first, it is 

 cheaper in the end, because I have found that I don't waste so 

 many as with ordinarymade drawn gut tackle ; and secondly, 

 it is much easier for you to change the hook, if you want to 

 use a different size; instead of being at the trouble of taking 

 the whole tackle off, and re-shotting another, you would only 

 just have to take the bottom length oft 7 , and replace it with 

 another that had the necessary-sized hook to it. 



A very important article in a roach fisher's outfit is his 

 float ; if the water is quiet or very nearly so, he must have 

 a float made of the smallest of goose or crow quills, one that 

 will carry about three or four split shots ; but if there is a bit 

 of a stream, he can increase the size of his float, and the 

 number of shots on the tackle. He need not on any account 

 have a float any larger than will carry about eight small 

 shots ; indeed in very quiet waters a self-cocking float will 

 be the best. This can be easily made out of two small 

 quills. Use the two tops and join them together with a little 



