chap, in.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 63 



serve to be very full of bones, and the skin very 

 thin, and little of it ; — I say, of these fish the hook 

 never takes so sure hold but you often lose your 

 fish, unless he have gorged it. 



Vex. I thank you, good Master, for this observ- 

 ation ; but now what shall be done with my Chub 

 or Cheven, that I have caught. 



Pise. Marry Sir, it shall be given away to some 

 poor body, for I'll warrant you I'll give you a Trout 

 for your supper : and it is a good beginning of your 

 art to offer your first-fruits to the poor, who will botb 

 thank God and you for it, which I see by your si- 

 lence you seem to consent to. And for your willing- 

 ness to part with it so charitably, I will also teach you 

 more concerning Chub-fishing. You are to note that 

 in March and April he is usually taken with worms ; 

 in May, June, and July he will bite at any fly, or at 

 cherries, or at beetles with their legs and wings cut 

 off, or at any kind of snail, or at the black bee that 

 breeds in clay-walls ; and he never refuses a gras • 

 hopper on the top of a swift stream, nor, at the 

 bottom, the young humble-bee that breeds in long 

 grass, and is ordinarily found by the mower of it. 

 In August, and in the cooler months, a yellow 

 paste, made of the strongest cheese, and pounded in 

 a mortar with a little butter and saffron, so much of 

 it as being beaten small will turn it to a lemon- 

 colour. And some make a paste for the winter- 

 months, — at which time the Chub is accounted best, 



