42 4 AMERICAN FISHES. 



Germany, Finland and the lower reaches of the Thames and other Eng- 

 lish rivers. Somewhat gregarious in habits, it occurs in schools about 

 bridge piers and mills, or in deep holes with hard bottoms, or in mid- 

 summer lies near the surface in shady places. It was at this season that 

 Walton taught his scholars to catch Chubs. 



" Look here, sir, do you see? said Piscator, there lie upon the top of 

 the water, in this very hole, twenty Chubs. I'll catch only one, and that 

 shall be the biggest of them all, and that I will do so, I'll do so, I'll hold 

 you twenty to one, and you shall see it done." 



Piscator was a skillful angler, for, notwithstanding the fact that he con- 

 sidered the. Chub " the fearfullest of fishes," he landed his choice. And 

 then, when it was cooked, Venator, who had called the Chub " the worst 

 fish that swims, confessed that 'twas as good meat as he had ever 

 tasted," and forthwith became the master's scholar.* 



The food of SquaUus is miscellaneous, like that of the Carp, and in- 

 cludes among other things frogs, mice and even rats. Cunning anglers 

 tempt its appetite with red cherries, strawberries and raspberries. 



The spawning time is in April, May and June, when the back of the 

 male becomes covered with a fine white granulation. The eggs number 

 100,000 or more, and are deposited in gravel or weeds in shallow water. 



Its shyness, its strength and its size make it a favorite among anglers, 

 and there are many who make its pursuit a specialty. 



" The Chub of all fish in his silver Trent 

 Invites the angler to the tournament." 



Trench in his ^'■No7'thern Memoirs y 

 In England its popularity seems to be increasing. Pennell j^rotests 

 against the old fashion of painting the Chub as a sort of water donkey, 

 and Wheeldon speaks of it when in condition as an exceptionally hand- 

 some fish, while Senior writes thus in its favor: 



"Fly-fishing for Chub answers best in the hot summer months, and 

 along the willow and alder-lined reaches payable sport is obtained. It is 

 a great boon for the man, in the big city pent, to be able to get away from 

 business, and by an afternoon train arrive at any portion of the Thames 

 below Oxford m time to have three or four of the best hours' fly-fishing 

 which the day affords. The Chub is not fastidious in its choice of flies. 

 So long as the lure is large and hairy ; so long as it bears some passing 

 resemblance to a caterpillar or beetle or large-winged moth, the anglers' 

 chances of big fish are good.f" 



* Dame Juliana Berners said that " the chevyn is a stately fysshe, and his heed is a deynty morsel!." 

 f William Senior (" Kcd-spinner") Angling in Great Britain, p. 4S. 



