46 THE CHUB. 



substantial mass of weeds, into which, as a place 

 of refuge, he is prepared to retire upon the small- 

 est provocation. There is not a shyer or more 

 easily-startled fish ; it is therefore essential to 

 throw a very long line, and to throw it deftly over 

 the weeds and under the bough and short of the 

 bank. To do this properly is not the work of the 

 tiro, and the fisherman who brings home a good 

 basket of fine chub is capable of far greater things 

 in the art of angling. However long the line 

 thrown, the approach of the fish towards its de- 

 stined prey is plainly visible in the clear and 

 comparatively shallow water it frequents, and it 

 requires no inconsiderable amount of self-restraint 

 to avoid the fly-fisher's besetting sin striking too 

 quickly. Strike, however, you must, and that 

 sharply, so as to fix the barb into the by no means 

 unaccommodating palate or lip of the fish. Un- 

 less this is done, the chub is nearly certain to 

 escape, for, lying as it generally does, close to the 

 bank, it could not run from you if it wished, which 

 it does not, for its refuge and hope of safety are in 

 the bed of weeds between it and you. The most 

 dangerous manoeuvre a fish can adopt is therefore 

 of necessity put in practice : it rushes towards, not 

 away from you, and a slack line is inevitably the 

 result. Of course, the opposition tactics are to 



