138 BY HOOK AND BY CROOK. 



and quietness during tlie middle of the week in the 

 reaches of the mid and upper Thames. 



Now all this is changed, so that if the angler 

 wishes for any chance of sport he should at least go 

 straight away to above Reading, where he can still 

 get a fair number of decent-sized fish. 



We always recall those days of chub-fishing with 

 pleasure, as it was in this pursuit that we first learnt 

 to cast a fly-line and acquired a taste for the sport of 

 angling, for had not such opportunities been given we 

 might never have handled the rod, and so have been 

 deprived of a vast amount of enjoyment. Fly-fishing 

 for chub, in our opinion, is the best sport the Thames 

 affords, as a good angler can make pretty certain of 

 landing a few during the day, while it is first-rate 

 practice for any other class of fly-fishing ; indeed, one 

 who is a really good caster of a chub-fly can, with 

 lialf an hour's practice, be converted into an excellent 

 trout- or salmon-fisher. 



In the expression of these opinions we shall probably 

 run counter to the ideas of those who prefer casting or 

 spinning bait for trout, who may argue that spinning 

 for trout is better sport than fly-fishing for chub — so 

 in our opinion it is, if a fair number of fish be landed ; 

 but spinning from boat or weir, for weeks together, 

 without getting fish, we hardly think can be called sport. 



The chub is a wary timid fish, and must be ap- 

 proached silently and with caution ; the angler should 

 cast a longish line and make the fly drop as close as 



