TRAVELLING FOR CHUB. 47 



As chub are rather shy, the angler, particularly if he is 

 in a punt or boat, must fish for them some distance from 

 him ; and be must therefore, when throwing in his bait, 

 calculate whereabouts it will ground or be dispersed on the 

 bottom rather nicely, because over that part of the swim 

 he must fish the most carefully. This should not be 

 nearer to him than ten yards, and from twelve to twenty 

 will be better. Use Nottingham tackle, which will be 

 described presently. The float, of course, must suit the 

 stream. The hook, if greaves or cheese be used, should be 

 a small triangle, and the depth plumbed so that the bait 

 may travel naturally along the bottom without dragging 

 too much. The Nottingham tackle used in 'light cork- 

 ing' will be about the tackle for this purpose. The 

 tackle dropped in, and the swim commenced, the rod is 

 held almost upright, the point inclining a little forward. 

 If the weight of the stream does not take the line out fast 

 enough, it must be handed off the reel. The great object 

 is not to check the line, but to let the bait travel steadily 

 onward. Presently the float disappears, and the angler 

 must strike smartly and firmly (as he may have a good 

 length of line to lift off the water) back over his right 

 shoulder. If he has hooked his fish, he then winds 

 steadily on him until he winds him up into the swim 

 under the point of the rod, whenf if he has been brought 

 up from any distance, he is usually fit for the landing-net. 

 In this kind of fishing, which is called ' traveller ' fishing 

 (the float being the traveller), a long swim is made if the 

 bottom admits of it, and it is common enough to strike fish 

 forty or even fifty yards off. Many sorts of fish are caught 

 in this way, as I shall show. Many chub are taken in open 

 winter weather by fishing down the edges of the boughs in 

 this style. The bait being set to a little below mid-water 

 and consisting of a lump of cheese or a bit of pith, 

 bullock's marrow, fragments of brains cheese being cast 



