66 LRITISH SPORTING FISHES. 
and in this capacity the dace is sometimes used 
for trout. The success of the fish as a live bait is 
probably owing to the silvery sheen of its flashing 
sides. The dace is small, and rarely attains to 
more than nine inches in length. I have spoken 
of the fish as taking the fly; but Walton recom- 
mends that it should be fished for with paste made 
from a “ pure fine manchet.”. And then he wisely 
adds, that when you fish with it you must have 
a small hook, a quick eye, and a nimble hand, or 
the bait is lost, and the fish, too—if one may 
lose that which he never had. ‘“ With this paste 
you may, as I said, take both the roach and the 
dace or dare, for they be much of a kind in matter 
of feeding, cunning, goodness, and usually in size. 
And therefore take this general direction for some 
other baits that may concern you to take notice of. 
They will bite almost at any fly, but especially at 
ant-flies,” 
The gudgeon is a gregarious fish, usually 
swimming in shoals, and found in rivers and , 
streams having gravelly beds. Among the stones 
and pebbles the little fish love to rummage, and 
here they obtain their food. The parts of the 
shallow streams which they best love to haunt 
are where the water is “thin” and rippling, or 
the “reaches” between deep dubs. Although 
gudgeon are partial to fresh streams, they also 
