60 ROACH, RUDD AND DACE. 



gentles ; after the bread and bran are well mixed with some 

 clay and formed into balls, press a hole in each with the 

 finger, and before throwing the ball into the swim fill the 

 hole in the ground-bait with gentles and close it tightly. In 

 eddies and still waters a handful of carrion gentles alone, 

 thrown in are very useful ; but if there is much stream, it 

 is evident that the gentles being light must be carried away 

 directly they reach the water ; whereas if they are worked 

 into the ball, this sinks directly and they then find their way 

 out gradually and keep the fish about the swim. Potatoes 

 are also used for ground-bait, they should be boiled till soft, 

 and gently squeezed before being thrown into the swim. 



f HE Rod used for Eoach-fishing from the bank should be 

 from sixteen to twenty feet in length, of light and stiff 

 cane, sharp in the strike and not ringed ; if it is to be 

 used from a punt, should possess the same qualities but 

 tumid be from ten to eleven feet only. For a rod of this 

 latter description it is safer to have rings, tolerably close 

 together (so as not to allow the line to hang too loosely from 

 the rod) as it not unfrequently happens that a Barbel makes 

 his appearance in the swim, when unless the angler is pro- 

 vided with running-tackle, he stands a very fair chance of 

 losing his fish. The running-line should be the very finest 

 plaited silk (prepared with india-rubber varnish) and should 

 be from thirty to forty yards long, on a small multiplying 

 winch ; or if the angler chooses, a plain winch. 



In the Lea, however, the true Roach fisher scorns rings to 

 his rod and trusts to his skill alone to enable him to land 

 safely his finny prize. Most Lea-fishers keep an inch or two 

 of fine silk line tied to the end of the top-joint, and fasten 

 the gut or hair line to the silk by means of a draw-loop knot ; 

 this is a better plan than fastening the line directly to the 

 rod, as the latter is apt to chafe the gut or hair. The Roach- 

 line should be of the very finest blue gut, in length about 

 three yards, although many prefer the same length of horse 

 hair; this however is becoming rapidly superseded by the 

 extra-fine gut, which, besides being less than half the sub- 

 stance, possesses five or six times the strength. 



