Darting Dace Leuciscus leucisus

With their silver colouring and similar river habitat, dace can sometimes be mistaken for roach or chub. However, you can distinguish dace from roach by their yellow, not red, eyes and slimmer bodies. Dace are generally smaller than both roach and chub and their dorsal and anal fins have concave edges (convex in the chub).

Dace (also called darts) are silver with a grey or dull green back. Larger specimens take on a brassy colour and the pelvic and anal fins may be tinged pink. Their slim bodies enable them to swim for long periods in the main current of the river.

Dace favour clear, fast-flowing rivers and streams, usually with a gravelly bottom. They live very successfully in trout dominated waters or large coarse-fishing rivers such as the Thames. Once in a while they turn up in still waters as a result of becoming trapped when a river is dammed to form a reservoir. They live in large shoals to give themselves some protection from predators. Older, larger fish tend to live in smaller groups.

Although dace are common throughout southern and eastern England, they are found only in localized spots in the north and Wales. Dace are not native to Ireland, but a small population was accidentally introduced to the River Blackwater, Co. Cork. No dace are found in Scotland.

With both top and bottom jaws projecting equally, dace feed well on both the bottom and the surface. They mostly eat invertebrates, intercepting drifting animals in mid water or taking floating insects from the surface. They are always on the lockout for food and readily take flies designed to catch game fish. They eat water shrimps, slaters, mayfly larvae, small snails and also a considerable amount of algae.

Dace breed earlier in the year than most coarse fish, so they are unlikely to form hybrids with other species such as chub and roach, in February and March shoals of dace gather in the riffles to spawn. Just before spawning the male's scales become very rough and bony tubercles develop on its head. The female's scales remain smooth.

The female lays up to 28,000 pale orange eggs among plants and stones. They hatch after 25 days. Dace grow fairly rapidly at first, and adult fish are mature after two years, Females live longer and grow larger than the males - so any dace you catch weighing more than 0.45kg (1lb) is most likely to be female and at least ten years old.

River Tees, Cleveland Excellent dace in the 280-340g (10-12oz) class.

Rivers Nidd, Rye and Swale, N. Yorkshire Plenty of dace live in these waters.

River Derwent, Derbyshire Some fine dace in this trout river.

River Trent, Nottinghamshire Some dace in the tidal reaches around Dunham.

Little Ouse. Norfolk The river near Thetford is noted for its large dace

River Usk, Gwent, Wales Some big bags produced in matches

River Kennet, Berkshire Dace approaching the British record have been caught from this venue

River Thames, London The lower and tidal reaches between Chiswick and Richmond are best

River Blackwater, Co. Cork, Eire The only river in Ireland with dace

Weight: up to 630g (1lb4oz), average 112g (4oz)

Length: up to 30cm (12in )

Life-span: 10-12 years

Favourite waters: clear, fast-flowing rivers and streams

• Dace have slender bodies and narrow pointed heads

• Their small, even mouths enable them to feed easily on both the bottom and the surface

• Dace have silver flanks and undersides, and grey or olive-green backs

• Both the dorsal and anal fins are concave at the edge The anal and pelvic fins are tinged with pink

The British record has stood since 1960, it is held by J L Gasson for a 574g (1lb 4oz 4dms) dace, caught from the Little Ouse, Thetford, Norfolk

The Irish record is held by John T Henry for a 510g (1lb 2oz) fish caught from the Blackwater River, Co Cork, in 1966

In winter, dace move to deep pools or slack water to conserve energy In February shoals gather to spawn in shallow riffles

In summer, dace move to shallow waters, thriving in the fast flow of the river They lie just under the surface, often in the shade of trees and bridges Overhanging trees provide shelter and a constant supply of insects