ake flies. The first consists
of carp, tench, barbel and bream. Of these carp, tench and bream are
either river or pool fish, while the barbel is found only in rivers,
principally in the Thames and Trent. The carp grows to a great size,
20 lb being not unknown; tench are big at 5 lb; barbel have been
caught up to 14 lb or rather more; and bream occasionally reach 8 lb,
while a fish of over 11 lb is on record. All these fish are capricious
feeders, carp and barbel being particularly undependable. In some
waters it seems to be impossible to catch the large specimens, and the
angler who seeks to gain trophies in either branch of the sport needs
both patience and perseverance. Tench and bream are not quite so
difficult. The one fish can sometimes be caught in great quantities,
and the other is generally to be enticed by the man who knows how to
set about it. Two main principles have to be observed in attacking all
these fish, ground-baiting and early rising. Ground-baiting consists
in casting food into the water so as to attract the fish to a certain
spot and to induce them to feed. Without it very little can be done
with shy and large fish of these species. Early rising is necessary
because they only feed freely, as a rule, from daybreak till about
three hours after sun-rise. The heat of a summer or early autumn day
makes them sluggish, but an hour or two in the evening is sometimes
remunerative. The bait for them all should usually lie on the bottom,
and it consists mainly of worms, wasp and other grubs, pastes of
various kinds; and for carp, and sometimes bream, of vegetable baits
such as small boiled potatoes, beans, peas, stewed wheat, pieces of
banana, &c. None of these fish feed well in winter.

_Roach, Rudd, Dace, Chub_.--The next group of _Cyprinidae_ consists
of fish which will take a bait similar to those already mentioned and
also a fly. The sizes which limit the ordinary angler's aspirations
are roach about 2 lb, rudd about 2-1/2 lb, dace about 1 lb and chub
about 5 lb. There are instances of individuals heavier than this, one
or two roach and many rudd of over 3 lb being on record, while dace
have been caught up to 1 lb 6 oz., and chub of over 7 lb are not
unknown. Roach only take a fly as a rule in very hot weather when
they are near the surface, or early in the season when they are on
the shallows; the others will take it freely all through the summer.
Ordinary trout flies do well enough for all four species