172 COARSE FISH. 



where it joins the hook. There is a new disgorger 

 Dis- in the market, which fits on the end of the 

 gorger finger with a thimble, a good arrange- 

 ment ; but the disgorger might be considerably 

 shortened, those I have seen being too long. 

 Mathews, of Marlow, is the patentee. 



Roach are chiefly caught by three methods : 



ordinary travelling float-tackle, tight float- 

 tackle ' m S> an d legering. The first-named is the 

 Travel^ most popular. A sandy or gravelly swim 

 flof t should be selected, and the depth plumbed 



most carefully ; allow the bait to be close 

 to the bottom or to trip along it, as roach are 

 mostly ground-feeders. Whenever possible, an 

 eddy should be fished ; the groundbait rests better 

 in an eddy than in a straight run, the latter being 

 more easily fished from a punt than from the bank, 

 particularly long swims. Plumbing the depth 

 should be done as quietly and quickly as possible ; 

 avoid lowering the plummet more than is abso- 

 lutely necessary, or dragging it along the swim. 

 A shoal of roach may be alarmed for some time 

 by a plummet being dropped in their midst and 

 dragged about amongst them. If roach are very 

 shy, the plummet should not be used, but the 

 depth guessed and the tackle allowed to run down 

 a few times, altering the depth till the float drags 

 under or bobs slightly ; when it drags under, it is 

 set too deep, and when it bobs and rises again, the 

 hook is scraping along the bottom, when it must 

 be set shallower till it travels steadily down. The 

 depth may be judged pretty accurately in this way. 

 For fishing swims close under the rod-top, the 

 float must be sunk almost to its very tip ; for long 

 swims and in rough water or weather, it must not 



