THE DACE. 159 



after performing that operation are as rough as nutmeg- 

 graters, again getting into condition about the middle of 

 May, and will then take the fly or bait on the shallows. 

 The new " Act," however, says no ; the dace must not be 

 touched until the 16th June. Dace very seldom exceed a 

 pound in weight ; indeed, I should suppose that to be the 

 very top weight for them in England ; it is only in certain 

 rivers and under very favourable conditions, however, that 

 they reach that weight. In the Trent a dace of half a pound 

 is a very good one, while occasional ones of nine and ten 

 ounces are taken, though they are very rare. The biggest 

 I ever took weighed a trifle over ten ounces, and I caught it 

 out of a deep hole when bream fishing. They are a good 

 sporting fish, and will fight bravely to the last ; while as a 

 fish for the table, they are a deal better than the roach. 

 They are generally boiled or fried dry. In bottom fishing 

 for dace the tackle recommended for roach will do. In the 

 early part of the season when they are on the shallows they 

 are very fond of a cad bait, or a couple of gentles, and may 

 sometimes be caught in considerable numbers ; they may 

 also be caught fly fishing. 



A light single-handed trout rod is used for this work, and 

 the flies are the palmers, red, black, or grey, the black gnat, 

 or a coch-y-bouo!hu. He can also be caught by " dibbling " 

 the real insect on the surface, as is described elsewhere. An 

 improvement on the artificial fly will be a gentle or a cad 

 bait placed on the point of the hook. During the autumn 

 and winter months, when the dace retire into the deep quiet 

 holes, they are caught also in exactly the same way as was 

 fully described in reference to roach fishing. The ground 

 bait can be the same, the only exception being that the dace 

 do not care for paste and grain so much as roach, though 

 they are sometimes caught with those baits. Cockspur 

 worms and gentles are the best lures therefore. 



