NORFOLK BROAD AND RIVER FISHING. 367 



attach the float to the line by the lower end only. It is claimed 

 that this is decidedly the best, and that it admits of much 

 greater neatness and accuracy in striking a fish than when the 

 float is attached by the upper end as well as the lower. No. 9 

 hooks are used when the fish are of fair size, at other times 

 Nos. 10 and 12. The hooks known as 'crystal' hooks are con- 

 sidered excellent for roach-fishing. 



In the deep swift waters the line is heavily shotted, the float 

 being of a corresponding size. About twenty medium-sized 

 shot may be placed in a space of about a foot, the bottom one 

 not nearer than about three feet from the hook, with just one 

 shot on the length next to the hook. This arrangement ensures 

 the bait being carried swiftly to the bottom and being kept 

 steady, very important items in roach-fishing. It is somewhat 

 difficult to detect the first symptoms of a bite when the water is 

 at all rough. When good roach are on the feed the float is 

 first affected by a slight tremulous movement, and almost 

 immediately settles down, generally in a slanting direction ; 

 the moment to strike is just as the setthng down commences — 

 at ' half the first dip,' as an old angler once said to me. It 

 requires a large amount of practice and some keen observation 

 before an angler becomes expert in this, and it is in this that 

 visitors generally fail, especially if the water is rough. 



A friend of mine was one day pulling in roach as fast as he 

 could bait his hook — and goodly roach, too — while a stranger in 

 a boat close by had not caught one. At last the stranger asked 

 leave to moor his boat to my friend's and fish his swim with him. 

 This was acceded to, but the stranger still could not catch a 

 fish. Yet he had plenty of bites, but in the rough water he 

 could not discern them. 



Sudden perky bites indicate small fish, and these are often 

 the most difficult to catch* In float-fishing for roach the bait 

 should be just touching the bottom. A good plan adopted by 

 some is to fish with two hooks, the lower one dragging on the 

 bottom and the upper one three or four inches clear of it. 

 This, is an advantage in a fast stream, as it retards the onward 



