332 WHAT 1 HAVE SEEN WHILE FISHING 



my friend the fisher, and the large rush basket 

 would not have held one half of the fish he caught 

 had we retained them all. 



When the first hard frost comes have a try 

 with this latter method for some of those chub 

 under the withies in the Old River which I pointed 

 out to you as good chub-ground as we passed 

 them. 



Next we reach some broader, quieter eddies. 

 Notice how easily they may be fished from the 

 bank. 



A short time since I was passing this spot while 

 a bank angler was in the act of carefully lifting out 

 a good roach ; as the punt went slowly past I 

 saw a little bit of paste put on the hook and, 

 immediately above it, a very small ball of ground- 

 bait. It was very gingerly lowered and, almost 

 as soon as it could have reached the bottom, there 

 was a strike, and, to judge by the top of the rod, 

 another good roach would soon be upon the grass. 



The broad, shallow, sandy slack, fringed with 

 short rushes, before us on our left, is one of the 

 spawning beds for roach ; and about the third week 

 in May it presents a curious spectacle. The mass 

 of roach collected here causes the water to assume 

 a dark slate tint, a shade of colour well known 

 to the poacher, who has no need to approach 

 too closely to see what is there ; his net is drawn 

 carefully round it, and the river is so much the 

 poorer. 



