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The Am eric ex II Angler 



weighing- six pounds, and that speci- 

 mens of ten pounds have been caught 

 in European waters, where it has been 

 found at an elevation of three thousand 

 feet or more, and again at the sea level 

 in the brackish waters of the German 

 Empire. I have taken one weighing 

 two pounds, on the artificial fly, from a 

 dam on the Lycoming Creek, Pa., and 

 was somewhat astonished when, on 

 proudly showing my trophy to a 

 resident angler, he told me I had caught 

 a baby, and he had taken them at night 

 weighing five pounds, on an eel set 

 line in the same water. He would not 

 modify his assertion when assaulted by 

 strong and heated arguments. 



No origin of the popular name of a 

 fish has elicited so much discussion as 

 that of the chub, the consensus of 

 opinion being that it is derived from 

 the old Saxon word cop or copp, mean- 

 ing " head," because the chub is said 

 to have an unusually large thick head ; 

 but if we examine closely we will find 

 nothing so abnormal in the shape or size 

 of the head of a chub as compared with 

 other fish, such as the perch, dace or carp, 

 living in the same waters, to indicate 

 that the old Saxons would be apt to dis- 

 tinguish this particular fish by so mean- 

 ingless a name, but be this as it may, 

 the name has clung to it for ages, and 

 has given us that expressive word 

 "chubby," which means, Webster tells 

 us, "like a chub, plump, short and 

 thick," a description which applies less 

 to a chub than to many other fishes. 

 Yet in poetry and prose the name, with 

 its derivation and repulsive derivatives, 

 has been handed down to us by the old 

 writers ; and even Walton, whose fav- 

 orite names for this fish were "Cheven " 

 and "Chavender," fell into the swim of 

 opprobrium and called it the "logger- 

 headed chub." 



The physical markings of .V. corporalis, 



those that may be described without the 

 use of technical language, yet sufficient 

 to distinguished it from its congeners 

 by closely observant anglers, who know 

 a chub when they see it, are as follows : 

 There is no black spot on the anterior 

 end of the base of dorsal fin, which is 

 present on the more numerous and 

 smaller chub, or fall-fish, vS". atromaciila- 

 tus ; the dorsal fin is inserted midway on 

 the back between the nostrils and base 

 of tail fin ; the length of the head 

 (measuring from end of snout to ex- 

 tremity of gill cover) is four and a half 

 times greater than the longitudinal 

 diameter of the eye ; the body (measur- 

 ing from end of snout to base of caudal 

 fin) is four times as long as the head, 

 and the length of the body is four times 

 that of its greatest depth. There are 

 eight rays in the dorsal, and a like 

 number in the anal fin. The upper 

 parts of the body are of steel blue color, 

 varying in tone in different waters, and 

 the sides and belly are silvery with 

 grayish blendings. This fish, like most 

 of the cyprinoids, puts on, in the spring, 

 nuptual robes of more or less beauty ; 

 in some specimens the coloration is very 

 striking, with its deep crimson and 

 delicate rose tints alternating ; the 

 lower fins with deep pinkish reflections. 

 As this fish is seldom, if ever, found 

 west of the Alleghany Mountains, 

 Western anglers can dismiss the vexing 

 question of identification when fishing 

 on their home waters. 



The common chub or fall fish, Scnioti- 

 lus atroDiaculatus — the specific name 

 from the Latin — atcr "black," viacula- 

 tus "spotted" — is found west from New 

 England to Dakota, and south to Mis- 

 souri, Georgia and Alabama. It seldom 

 grows more than a foot in length, and 

 is the species most frequently met 

 with by trout fishermen, and it is upon 

 its presence or absence in a trout stream 



