THE PERCH. 71 



THE PERCH. 



The perch is a very ravenous fish, its mouth being fur- 

 nished with very large teeth ; it is hogged-backed, on 

 which are two strong prickly fins ; the sides are covered 

 with hard dry scales ; its body is thick and deep, and 

 of a brownish olive colour, with four for five blackish 

 marks proceeding from the back downwards ; its flesh is 

 little inferior to that of a trout. They spawn in February 

 and March, and sometimes as late as May. They bite best 

 from the middle of May to the end of July, and may be 

 taken as late as September. They delight in gentle clear 

 streams with sandy and gravelly bottoms, and are found 

 in almost every lake and river. They swim in shoals, 

 and. when you find them, you may take nearly every fish 

 at one standing. Your line and rod must be the same as 

 for chub, with a small cork float. They are taken at 

 several depths, but you will take the best fish at the bot- 

 tom. They bite best in warm weather. If the day be 

 cloudy and windy, you may angle from sunrise to sunset. 

 When he bites give him time you cannot give him too much 

 for if you let it alone it will hook itself. The best baits 

 are the minnow used as a leger-bait, or with trouling, the 

 brambling-worm, dock-worm, red-worm, wasp-grub, a 

 blue worm that you may find under old cow dung in a 

 pasture field, and if you take the eye out of one that you 

 have caught, and put it on the hook, it will take it greedi- 

 ly ; it will likewise take a dirty brownish-looking bot, 

 found in ploughed fields or amongst clods that arc piled 



