Leuciscus leuciscus · Also called Dart
A slim, fast, bright-silver river fish. Great sport on light tackle, even in the depths of winter.
🏆 British record: 1 lb 5 oz 2 dr (0.599 kg), River Wear, Sunderland (2002)
Slender and bright silver with a small, narrow head and a yellowish eye. The top and bottom fins have inward-curving edges.
Small chub look similar, but chub have a bigger mouth and an outward-curving anal fin.
Clean, fast-flowing rivers and streams. Dace like shallow gravel runs, glides and the tails of pools. They shoal near the surface in summer and drop into steadier water in winter.
Dace eat insects and their larvae, often rising to take flies at the surface. They feed through the day and keep biting in cold weather.
Best time: All season. Winter is a favourite time (rivers are closed 15 March to 15 June).
Maggots
Casters
Bread punch
Hempseed
Flowing rivers
Set the bait just off the bottom, feed a few maggots each trot and strike at any dip. Dace bites are lightning fast, so be quick.
Small and delicate. Wet hands and a quick return.
📜 Rules and seasons
On rivers, streams and drains in England and Wales there's a close season for coarse fish from 15 March to 15 June. Most lakes, ponds and canals are open all year, but check the water's own rules.
Check the official rules on gov.ukVideos open on YouTube. We don't make them, but we think they're good.
