IN PRAISE OF CHUB 213 



this sport with the wet fly was quite as brisk as it had 

 been with the coachman, and the fish were bigger 

 nothing under two pounds, and the biggest weighing 

 three and a half pounds. To sum up, by the time the 

 rise was over the twentyrtwo-pound creel was full to 

 the brim, and half a dozen chub beside had to be 

 carried home on a withy twig. All these fish, weigh- 

 ing, with those given away, at least fifty pounds, had 

 been caught without moving from the strip of shingle, 

 and without fishing more than fifteen yards of water, 

 which only shows how chub may be caught when they 

 are really on the feed. The last cast provoked a curious 

 conclusion to a wonderful morning. A fish followed 

 the fly just like a chub, took it, and was played to the 

 net, when it proved to be a small pike of about two 

 and a half pounds. It gave a last kick as the net was 

 about to receive it, the frayed gut parted, and the fly 

 which had caught so many fish vanished for ever. 



