136 BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 
I have never seen it in operation, but I have been assured that 
it is exceedingly effective. The recipe is as follows: Boil 
14 Ib. of rice until rather soft (not so much so as to cause it to 
adhere), let it cool, then add 14 Ib. of flour, 1 0z. of Cocculus 
Indicus, and crumble up with the whole a threepenny loaf of 
stale bread. Mix all together with the hands, and fling it in 
pieces about the size of swan-shot into the haunts of chub and 
other coarse fish. These will eat it—though trout, it is said, 
will not—and presently float up in a disgraceful state of in- 
toxication, when they may be scooped out with a landing-net. 
Chub gather into companies in the spawning season, which in 
Britain takes place in May, and deposit their ova in gravelly 
places. Were the chub a more valuable prize, angling for him 
Angling for WOuld be a very exciting sport, for he is a wary 
Chub. fellow, and must be approached by stealth and with 
fine tackle, which by his strength and weight he is able to test 
to the uttermost. He takes both fly and minnow, as trout- 
fishers know to their chagrin. Many a time is the dry-fly 
fisher deceived by a fish rising seductively in a difficult place 
under the trailing sprays of a willow. With skilful sidelong 
cast he manages to deliver his fly neatly a yard or more above 
the spot ; it lights like gossamer on the surface and travels 
down, airily cocked in irresistible fashion. A modest dimple 
on the placid current—the line tightens bravely, and the reel 
spins merrily as the fish makes a strong, deep rush towards the 
pollard root. The angler’s heart is in his mouth, for this feels 
like a trout of 3 lb. at the least. Next moment an angry 
monosyllable disturbs the serene air ; the rush is checked and 
spent, and a great chub comes lumbering to the surface, soon 
to be dragged without ceremony to the net, for summer chub 
make but a poor fight, and no trout-fisher would soil his basket 
with such slimy quarry. 
Quick sport may be had with chub in weir-streams and 
swift, shallow water during June and July ; but the fish are 
not at their best till September. In that month they seek the 
