1 82 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [part i. 



so much time, and I have said so little of Roach and Dace, I 

 will give you some directions concerning them. 



Some say the Roach is so called from rutilus^ which they say 

 signifies red fins. He is a fish of no great reputation for his 

 dainty taste ; and his spawn is accounted m,uch better than any 

 other part of him. And you may take notice, that as the Carp 

 is accounted the water-fox, for his cunning ; so the Roach is 

 accounted the water-sheep, for his simplicity or foolishness. It 

 is noted, that the Roach and Dace recover strength, and grow 

 in season in a fortnight after spawning ; the Barbel and Chub 

 in a month ; the Trout in four months ; and the Salmon in the 

 like time, if he gets into the sea, and after into fresh water. 



Roaches be accounted much better in the river than in a pond, 

 though ponds usually breed the 'biggest. But there is a kind of 

 bastard small Roach, that breeds, in ponds, with a very forked 

 tail, and of a very small size ; which some say is bred by the 

 Bream and right Roach ; and some ponds are stored with these 

 beyond belief; and knowing-men, that know their difference, call 

 them Ruds : they differ from the true Roach, as much as a 

 Herring from a Pilchard. And these bastard breed of Roach are 

 now scattered in many rivers : but I think not in the Thames, 

 which I believe affords the largest and fattest in this nation, 

 especially below London Bridge.* 



* I know not what Roaches are caught below bridge : but above, I am sure they are 

 Very large; for on the 15th of September 1754, at Hampton, I caught one that was 

 fourteen inches and an.eighth from eye to fork, and in weight wanted but an ounce ot 

 two pounds. 



The season for fishing for Roach in the Thames begins about the latter end of August, 

 and continues much longer than it is either pleasant or safe to fish. It requires some 

 skill to hit the time of taking them exactly ; for all the summer long they live on the 

 weed, which they do not forsake, for the deeps, till it becomes putrid, and that is sooner 

 or later, according as the season is wet or dry ; for you are to know, that much rain 

 hastens the rotting of the weed. I say it requires some skill to hit the time ; for the 

 fishermen who live in all the towns along the river, from Chiswick to Staines, are, about 

 this time, nightly upon the watch, as soon as the fish come out, to sweep them away 

 with a drag-net : and our poor patient angler is left, baiting the ground and adjusting 

 his tackle, to catch those very fish which, perhaps, the night before haa been carried to 

 Billingsgate. 



The Thames, as well above as below London Bridge, was formerly much resorted to 

 by London anglers : and, which is strange to think on, considering the unpleasantness 

 of the station, they were used to fish near the starlings of the bridge. This will account 

 for the many fishing-tackle shops that were formerly in Crooked Lane, which leads to 

 the bridge. In the memory of a person not long since living, a waterman that plied at 

 Essex Stairs, his name John Reeves, got a comfortable living by attending anglers with 

 his boat : his method was, to watch when the shoals of Roach came down from the 

 country, and, when he had found them, to go round to his customers and give them 

 notice. Sometimes they settled opposite the Temple ; at others, at Blackfriars or 

 Queenhithe; but most frequently about the Chalkhills, near London Bridge. His hire 

 was two shillings a tide. A certain number of persons, who were accustomed thus to 

 employ him, raised a sum sufficient to buy him a waterman's coat, and silver badge, the 

 impress whereof was, "Himself, with an Angler, in his boat ; " and he had, anitually, a 

 new coat to the time of his deathf which might be about the year 1730. 



