COARSE FISH AND THE LY. 177 



it may be that the fish take it for a large slug. The 

 essentials in chub stalking are to see the fish with- 

 out being seen by them, to be able to place the fly 

 somewhere near them (behind them is often as good 

 as in front), to strike slowly, and to hold them out 

 of weeds and other dangers when first hooked. 



Another essential, which the angler cannot con- 

 trol, is the weather ; it must be hot, with little or 

 no wind. Unless it is hot the fish will not be on 

 the surface, and if it be windy the angler will find 

 it very difficult to see them. Failing the fish them- 

 selves he must look out for their rises, or else cast 

 at a venture in likely spots. The rise of a chub is 

 generally a quiet thing, and the superficial commo- 

 tion is often hardly greater than that caused by a 

 bleak or small dace ; but comparison of the two 

 will generally disclose a difference. The chub 

 makes a much deeper ring, and often a wave as he 

 cruises slowly about under water. When chub are 

 really rising well (not a very frequent occurrence) 

 the dry fly brings sport. I have several times had 

 big baskets of chub with tiny trout flies and fine 

 gut, fishing dry. It may have no universal signi- 

 ficance, but on nearly every such occasion, I think, 

 the weather conditions have been distinctive a 

 kind of April day placed in August or September, 



with alternations of sun and cloud, a light but 



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