THE FLY-FISHERMAN'S AFTERMATH. 39 



bush ; meanwhile he takes care to allow no line to touch the surface 

 of the river. If the basking fish refuses to bestir himself when the 

 fly strikes the water, the angler trembles his rod, and thus imparts 

 a lifelike motion to the fly, which often proves the undoing of old 

 "leather-mouth." 



This style of chubbing takes us back to the days of Walton, 

 and to the pages of " The Compleat Angler." We picture, in our 

 minds, the scene in which Piscator presented " a great logger- 

 headed chub " to the milkmaid's mother, after a passing shower had 

 sent him and Venator to the shelter of " yonder high honey-suckle 

 hedge." To requite the anglers for their gift the women sang three 

 songs, including the one Maudlin had sung on the previous night, 

 when young Coridon, the shepherd, played "so purely on his 

 oaten pipe." 



Passing on, we come to the roach and rudd, both of which give 

 interesting sport to the fly-fisherman. The rudd, perhaps, rises more 

 freely than the roach, but is confined to waters in certain districts 

 only. The rivers and broads of East Anglia are famous haunts of 

 the rudd, whilst it abounds in various English lakes, meres and 

 ponds, such as Teeton or Ravensthorpe Reservoir, Slapton Ley 

 and Torcross Ley. It is found also in some of the Irish rivers and 

 loughs. Roach and rudd take any fly of the ordinary stock pattern, 

 and take it, too, in a more leisurely manner than do either trout or 

 dace. Preparatory to fishing with the fly, rudd may be enticed to 

 the surface by throwing in small pieces of bread. 



Perch, pike and bleak also take the fly ; but these fish are not, 

 on the whole, very eagerly sought after. The pike requires a huge 

 and gaudy lure placed before it in order to attract its attention, and 

 the perch shows preference for a brightly coloured fly. And, 

 although carp, bream, and eels are known to have been caught by 

 the surface lure, these three can hardly be included in the list of 

 fly-taking coarse fish. 



So, during the hot, bright halcyon days, the fly-fisherman 

 rejoices in his " aftermath," and frequently meets with more success 

 than the bottom-angler who casts his float upon summer waters. 



