300 NOTES ON FISH AND FISHING. 



I dare say Dame Berners spoke rightly of the uneducated 

 fish of her day when she said " the roche is an easyfysshe 

 to take." Probably too Walton was justified in speaking 

 of the roach of his day as being " accounted the water-sheep 

 for his simplicity or foolishness." But a river roach, say 

 of the Thames, or . Come, or Trent, of our era is a very 

 different fish, and he is not to be had by any tyro. He 

 has, too, his times and seasons, • his " offs " and " ons," 

 and the general capriciousness of the scaly tribes, being 

 subject to all kinds of atmospheric and terrestrial influences, 

 which affect both the time and manner of his taking a 

 bait. Moreover the roach of a much-fished river like the 

 Thames are highly educated now-a-days, and are pretty 

 wide awake to the fisherman's proceedings, the fixing of 

 the punt, the plumbing the depth, and the scattering of 

 the ground-bait. Of course the latter attracts them, and 

 they come to " see what's up," and if inclined to feed they 

 will constantly take the baited hook for an innocent morsel 

 of favourite food. But to make a good basket of roach 

 even when they are " on " requires very careful attention 

 to a number of details. Tou must have a good " swim," 

 fish at the exact depth, use fine tackle, and in striking 

 have the gift of the regular " roach nick." Walton says, 

 " When you fish for roach you must have a small hook, a 

 quick eye, and a nimble hand." This holds good now, 

 and much more too which Father Izaak writ ; but if it is 

 not a reflection on the memory of the dear old angler of 

 Fleet Street, I am inclined to think, if he were restored 

 from the shades for a few days' angling, it would " take 

 him all his time " in this latter half of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury to make as big a bag of Thames or Lea roach as he 

 often did when in the flesh. Old hands still swear by the 



