ON ANGLING, 35 



PERCH 



Spawn in February and March, and are 

 esteemed for their fine flavour. They fre- 

 quent gravelly scours, in an eddy where the 

 stream is gentle and a tolerable depth, near 

 hollow banks, and stumps of trees. They are 

 caught in the Trent as large as three pounds, 

 and contrary to the nature of all fish of prey, 

 in fresh waters, swim in shoals. Perch bite 

 all day, especially if cloudy and a little wind, 

 but the best times are from seven to .eleven, 

 in the morning, and from three to six in 

 the afternoon. The best baits are small lob 

 worms, which have no ring round them, 

 brandlings, and the worms found in tanners' 

 bark, and rotten thatch. Use a cork float, 

 and fish about six inches from the bottom ; 

 should you meet with a good shoal, you may 

 take them all, for they are very greedy, un- 

 lefs one escapes that has been hooked, then 

 all is over, the fish that has been hooked 

 becomes restlefs and uneasy, and soon oc- 

 casions the whole shoal to leave the place, 



D 



