THE ROACH. 169 



For a red paste, cochineal may be used as the 

 ingredient for colouring. Roach will often R e d 

 take cheese paste. cheese 



Boiled green peas, mashed up in a mor- paste, 

 tar with wetted bread, will make a green g re ^ n 



p3.StC j 



paste. Roach like a green bait in the and 

 early season, and they are partial to the weed 

 green weed that clings to stones and steps in 

 running water. Whether roach take it for any 

 insect which it may contain, I cannot say; but 

 very large roach are caught with this green weed. 

 The lads at Chertsey dabble along the shelves of 

 the weir, hooking the weed off the ledges with the 

 hook itself, and fishing in the swiftest water pos- 

 sible ; this is in the early season chiefly, when the 

 roach are up on the " scours." I heard that one lucky 

 lad got a roach over two pounds in weight by fish- 

 ing in this way, and I have no reason to doubt it. 



I have killed hundreds of roach with the old- 

 fashioned dough-paste, made of flour and 

 water. It is beautifully white, but does 

 not stick on the hook well, though it is suitable 

 for gentle runs and slow streams. Its chief fault 

 is that it becomes very sticky if mixed too wet, 

 and I cannot recommend the use of wool or other 

 substance to keep the bait on the hook. 



A mealy potato, mashed up in a mortar with 

 bread or flour, makes a nice soft bait, or Potato- 

 pellets may be cut from a "waxy" half- paste 

 boiled potato with a quill. Either is white and 

 attractive. 



Bread-crust, a most killing bait, is but little used, 

 compared with gentles or bread-paste. Bread- 

 Soak a "tin loaf" until the crust is soft crust 

 enough to allow the hook to penetrate it quite 



