CHAP. XVII.] THE riFTII DAT. 2S1 



how you are to prepare your tackling : concerning which I 

 will, ibr sport-sake, give you an old rhyme out of an old fish- 



lioles that are shaded; water-lily leaves ; and under the foam caused by 

 an eddy : In hot weather they are to be found on the shallows ; and are, 

 then, best taken with an artificial fly, grasshoppers, or gentles, as here- 

 after directed. Dace spawn about the latter end of March; and are in 

 season ahout three weeks after; they are not very good till about Michael- 

 mas, and are best in February. BAITS FOR DACE, other than those 

 mentioned by Walton, are : the oak-worm, red-worm, brandling, gilt-tail, 

 and indeed any worm, bred on trees or bushes, that is not too big for his 

 mouth ; almost all kinds of flies and caterpillars. Though Dace are often 

 caught with a float, as Roach, yet they are not so properly float-fish ; for 

 they are to be taken with an artificial gnat, or ant-fly, or, indeed, almost 

 any other small fly in its season ; but in the Thames, above Richmond, the 

 largest are caught with a natural green or dun grasshopper, and sometimes 

 with gentles; with both which you are to fish as with an artificial fly. 

 They are not to be come at till about September, when the weeds begin to 

 rot ; but when you have found where they lie, which, in a warm day, is 

 generally on the shallows, 'tis incredible what havoc you may make. 

 Pinch off the first joint of the grasshopper's legs, put the point of the hook 

 in at the head and bring it out at the tail, and in tlu's way of fishing you 

 will catch chub, especially if you throw under the boughs. But this can 

 be done only in a boat ; for the management whereof, be provided with a 

 staff, and a heavy stone fastened to a strong rope of four or five yards in 

 length ; fasten the rope to the head of the boat, which, whether it be a 

 punt or a wherry, is equally fit for this purpose, and so drive down with 

 the stream ; when you come to a shallow, or other place where the fish are 

 likely to lie, drop the stone, and, standing in the stern, throw right down 

 the stream, and a little to the right and left ; after trying about a qtiarter 

 of an hour in a place, with the staff push the boat about five yards down, 

 and so throw again. Use a common fly-line, about ten yards long, with a 

 strong single hair next the hook. It is true there is less certainty of 

 catching in this Avay than with a float or ground-bait ; for which reason I 

 would recommend it only to those who live near the banks of that delightful 

 river between Windsor and Isleworth, who have or can command a boat for 

 that purpose, and can take advantage of a still, warm, gloomy day ; and 

 to such it will afford much more diversion than the ordinary inartificial 

 method of fishing in the deeps for roach and dace. 



In fishing at bottom for roach and dace, use, for ground-bait, bread, 

 soaked about an hour in water, and an equal quantity of bran ; knead them 

 to a tough consistence, and make them up into balls, with a small pebble 

 in the middle, and throw these balls in where you fish ; but be sure to 

 throw them up the stream, for otherwise they will draw the fish beyond 

 the reach of your line. 



Fish for roach, within six, and for dace, three inches of the bottom [or 

 even touch the bottom. ED.] 



Having enumerated the baits proper for every kind of fish in their 

 respective places, it may not be amiss here to mention one which many 

 authors speak of as excellent for almost all fish, and that is the spawn of 



