76 AN ANGLER'S HOURS v 



scale of merit. Of the two first I will say 

 but little. Roach take a fly, as a rule, in 

 very hot weather (oddly enough a friend 

 of mine once caught several roach in 

 the Hampshire Avon with a dry fly in 

 February], and most of the remarks which 

 I shall have to make on dace will apply to 

 them. 



Rudd are not very widely distributed 

 over England, but where they are found 

 (principally in the rivers and broads of the 

 Eastern Counties, and in the tidal pools of 

 the south coast) they give splendid sport to 

 the fly, as they are bold risers and plucky 

 fighters. They grow to a considerable size 

 too ; fish of two pounds or more are not 

 uncommon in some waters, while three- 

 pounders are not unknown. A Norfolk 

 rudd once smashed a fly-rod for me in a 

 way suggestive of a five-pound trout. But 

 the scales were not wanted. 



Dace and chub will best repay the trouble 

 of the fly-fisher. One or other of them is 

 found in nearly every river in England, and 

 in most they are both common. However, 

 they require to be fished for in somewhat 

 different ways, for though a chub may take 



