66 ROACH, RUDD AND DACE. 



yard or two above the swim, which was about five feet in 

 depth ; the bottom line was the very finest gut, and the float 

 a small taper quill carrying half-a-dozen small shots; this 

 was in the month of June, the weather was extremely hot, 

 and it was only for an hour or two early in the morning that 

 there was a chance of doing anything. 



And here I must remind the young practitioner, that al- 

 though with Roach, Dace and other fish which require ground 

 bait, this is necessary to draw the surrounding fish into the 

 swim, yet it must be used with judgement ; not throwing in 

 at once a sufficient quantity to satiate all the fish for half a 

 mile down the water, but just sufficient to bring them into 

 the swim ; and as long as they continue on the feed, a very 

 small quantity thrown in at intervals will suffice to keep the 

 shoal together. 



The best plan is to ground-bait the place overnight if poss- 

 ible, with a similar description of bait to that you purpose 

 using the following day ; if you intend fishing with gentles, 

 use the bread, bran and carrions mixed with a little clay f ; if 

 with worms, then a couple of hundred or more worms should 

 be chopped small and thrown in a few yards above where you 

 intend to fish. It will also be found a good plan when fishing 

 with worms to throw in a clay ball or two containing worms, 

 the same as used for Barbel. 



