THE CHUB. 47 



again. Keep your eyes open when you move away from the 

 first swim, and when you see another Hkely place, treat it as 

 before. Of course gentles or scratchings can be used in the 

 same way as worms, only a very little at once is quite suffi- 

 cient. This is a style of fishing that I like very much. 

 This wandering along the bank for a mile or two, drawing a 

 brace of chub out of this, and another brace out of that 

 hole, is very pleasant. A bit of a submerged bush or its 

 roots wiU sometimes hold a good fish or two, and ought 

 never to be passed by. Sometimes you may drop your bait 

 in a very unpretending-looking spot, and your float has 

 hardly time to steady itself before it goes down with a rush ; 

 and after a few minutes a three-pounder, perhaps, lies gasping 

 on the grass. This sort of fishing is a good deal practised 

 by the more experienced anglers of the Trent, and worms are 

 a bait that is often used. Indeed if I were to be tied to one 

 particular bait, and not allowed to use any other, I should 

 instantly choose worms. I cannot say when would be the 

 best time to use worms for chub ; you can scarcely be wrong 

 any time. September and October are good months to use 

 scratchings, and gentles may be used with effect any time 

 during the summer and autumn, just for a change ; these 

 baits are the best used as near the bottom as possible. I 

 have sometimes caught chub when roach fishing with gentles, 

 but mostly at the extreme end of the swim. If you think 

 there is a chub about, a swim of a few yards further wiU 

 very often fetch him. Brandlings, cockspurs, and blood 

 worms may all be used with effect in this method of angling, 

 and to enable the tyro to recognize these worms, I will 

 describe them. The brandling is marked from head to tail 

 with alternate bars of red and yellow ; when handled, there 

 exudes from it a yellow fluid of a very nasty smell ; it is 

 found in old dung heaps, and almost in any old heap of de- 

 caying vegetable matter. The best are, however, found in old 



