72 THE TROUT ARE RISING 
and I did not care one penny how any of the 
birds or beasts had been formed.” 
If you must fish on a July day, the fly-rod 
may be taken out, but in the full glare of the sun 
it will probably be in vain. There are other 
branches of the art, however. Maybe, a roach 
swim by a sheltered bush suggests a little old- 
fashioned bottom-fishing. When you approach 
the spot you will often find that some careful old 
Severnsider has already been there. You may 
see signs of him in the depressed grass and 
that stake, forked like a catapult, on which the 
roach-rod has rested, Roach or dace or chub, 
attracted by gentles that are on the hook may 
cause the red-tipped float to stab the water; or 
the bold-biting perch in an adjoining pool may 
have a go for the worm, In any case you are 
fairly sure of attention from the gudgeon, busy 
but not required. Nay, if a passing pike-fisher 
is live-baiting, he will be glad of a fresh-caught 
gudgeon. And, if you have enough of them, a 
dish of gudgeon fried in bread crumbs is not to 
be despised, 
Unless something exceptional happens, Severn 
fishing on a warm July day is not taken too 
seriously. But the old pipe will smoke grate- 
fully. And landscape values, as the artists calls 
them, will be noted, and this or that meadow- 
scene be regarded as subject fit for a memory 
picture. 
In autumn and winter Severn roach-fishing 
has many devotees, At Cound on two days 
