THE ROACH AND RUDD 

 the idea through finding that whenever I had my pnnt bottom tarred, 

 the tench seemed to be attracted, hung about under it, and readily took a 

 worm or a bit of brown bread paste dropped in by the side of it. 



BAITS FOR ROACH AND RUDD 



If I were restricted to one bait for roach all the season I think I should 

 select paste made from flour and water, or the crumb of a white or brown 

 loaf, or arrowroot biscuits. In writing about the chub I have described 

 how I make up the paste for the hook bait — in roach fishing I often, in deep 

 swims, use two hooks, one with white paste almost touching the bottom, 

 and one, two or three inches higher up, with paste made red by working 

 a little vermilion or other red colouring into it. Red paste is a favourite 

 bait with roach anglers in East Anglia. Roach have very sharp, bright 

 eyes, and the red colour may attract them. When I have been dry-fly fishing 

 for trout in some water I have, which contains fine roach and dace, I have 

 often seen a roach come sailing up to take my floating fly, and had to be 

 sharp to get it away before he got to it. As regards the size of the paste 

 bait it depends on the water, if clear and not very deep the smaller the 

 bait the better; in a deep, fairly strong stream paste made with flour and 

 water, with a little cotton wool pulled out into filmy bits and worked into the 

 paste, sticks on well. I always like just to feel the point of the hook sticking 

 out through the little ball of paste — ^in size, like a medium holly berry. 



The crumb of a new old-fashioned household loaf has a pleasant aroma, 

 and although it makes very stiff paste, by dipping the cloth containing it 

 in water now and then, one can always get some just right for sticking 

 on and not so stiff as to prevent hooking in striking. 



MR MALTBY'S GROUND -BAIT 



For very quiet water Mr Maltby recommends the following ground -bait : 

 " Ground bait is to be used only as a means to an end and, if used 

 with discretion, will attract the fish around you, so that your hook- 

 bait may have a fair chance — ^if behind the rod we have an angler with 

 brains. Now, the ground-bait, after many years of experimenting, 

 has resolved itself into simple bread, prepared in such a way that 

 makes it very attractive to fish life. • Dust ' is often the term used, 

 and dust it is— bread dust, made by baking bread in the oven (not 



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