THE CHUB. 51 



boiled shrimp will not be refused. A black slug with the 

 belly slit open so that the white is shown is also a very good 

 bait for chub at times. 



And now we will look for a few minutes at a bait that is 

 used during the winter, and is in my idea the winter bait imr 

 excellence for chub ; I allude to pith and brains. The pith 

 is the spinal chord of a bullock ; your butcher will draw you 

 a piece out when you want to use it, the brains are used for 

 ground bait, they must be washed perfectly clean, and well 

 scalded, or else boiled for a few minutes in a bag. They can 

 then be either chewed and spat out in the river, or else cut 

 up very small with a knife and thrown in. Don't, however, 

 be extravagant in this matter, a very few pieces are quite 

 sufficient. The pith itself when you first see it looks a very 

 dirty and disagreeable affair ; the pieces are about as thick as 

 your fore-finger, and I have had them a foot long. The skin 

 must be slit from end to end with a pair of fine pointed 

 scissors, carefully pulled off, and thrown away, being use- 

 less. The pith must then be carefully washed two or three 

 times in clean water till it is perfectly clear from blood and 

 all other impurities, and as white as curd. Some anglers re- 

 commend that it should be scalded, boiled, &c., but I say 

 don't be deluded into doing anything of the sort, for I have 

 tried it and boiling ever so little makes it very soft, and it 

 won't stop on the hook at all. I say do nothing more to it 

 than what I have recommended above. After it is washed 

 clean, it is ready for use ; and for this bait a N"o. 4 hook is 

 the best. Cut off a piece of pith about the size of a hazel 

 nut and put the hook through and through it several times 

 till you have worked the pith up the shank, it will then stop 

 on the hook very well. When you have a bite with this 

 bait play your fish very carefully, for I have found that two out 

 of three of the fish so caught have only been hooked by the 

 skin at the side of the mouth; handle them roughly, and you 



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