60 ANGLTNG. 



flowing deep stream, along which, the insects, grain, 01 

 other food is gently carried along, close at bottom, but not 

 touching it. Long as the line may be, and it is sometimes 

 necessary to fish eight or nine feet deep, there should not 

 be more than eighteen inches or two feet between the tip 

 of the float and the end of the rod. Care must be taken, 

 from time to time, to see that the bait is on the hook, and 

 that no part of the hook is exposed. Early in the spring 

 I have caught roach with a fine red worm, but, as a rule, 

 I prefer waiting until August before I try for this subtle 

 and shy fish. I find, in August, they will bite early in the 

 morning and late in the evening, at gentles, or at salmon 

 roe, though I seldom use this seductive bait. Caddis and 

 gentles, when easily obtained, are taken freely if the ground- 

 bait has been attended to. In the heat of the day, and 

 during the evening, the roach may be attracted by the 

 yellow-fly, so common in cow dung, if carefully " dipped " 

 on the surface. I have taken them with a blue-bottle, 

 tipped with a gentle, frequently ; but the angler must be 

 out of sight, and make no noise. As the autumn progresses, 

 the best bottom bait will be found to be boiled malt, wheat, 

 or pearl barley. If the former is used, it must be so placed 

 on the hook that the point and shank of the hook is hid, 

 and the tempting luscious inside may be seen. If the 

 hook, however, has a long shank, it is fatal to success with 

 large fish. A handful of malt may be thrown in as ground- 

 bait, and large-grained unboiled sago, and even rice, is 

 often found attractive. It requires, however, some skill in 

 playing a roach of some size, and I have seen them fre- 

 quently one pound and one and a half pound weight caught 

 and landed when the bottom line was a single horse-hair. 

 The roach, like the carp, is fond of sucking at the bait, and 



