181 



the surface, gentles are commonly used, and paste 

 formed of bran and clay may be thrown into the 

 water to collect the fish. The common weight of 

 the dace does not exceed half a pound, though they 

 have "been taken weighing so much as two. They 

 may be angled for from April to October. 



ROACH. 



In angling for roach, it is necessary to use 

 fine tackle, and as they are not generally of a great 

 size, a single hair, in the hands of a dextrous angler, 

 is sufficient to hold them. When angling with 



single hair-line, it is necessary to use a land- 

 ing-net, and to strike gently when you feel a bite 

 Great numbers of roach are caught in the Thames 

 and the Lea, with a single-hair line, the hook baited 

 with paste of soft white bread and honey, and balls 

 of clay and bran occasionally thrown into the water, 

 h the roach i 



ling paste, 



. appears 



best after August, the hook ought to swim just clear 



of the bottom. Roach may be angled for with gen- u\\ ^ 



ties, from two to four feet from the surface of the | jjljj^ 



water, and with small flies, the same 



for dace. 



Angling for roach and dace is a pleasing amuse- 

 ment for boys, and an introduction to the higher 

 departments of the art; but is undeserving of the 

 attention of the angler who has arrived at years of 

 discretion, unless he have either nothing else to do 

 in which case his angling may be considered as a 



