THE CHUB. 58 



daping ; and for this branch of our art no better instructions 

 have ever been given than those by Izaak Walton. The 

 bottom fisher's rod, reel, and line, will do for this work, but 

 the lower tackle must only be about a foot long, with a couple 

 of big split shots as close to the loop as possible, and for baits 

 all sorts of creatures are used, such as butterflies, humble 

 bees, large blue-bottle flies, cockroaches, beetles, grasshoppers, 

 &c., &c., and also a very small yellow frog. Caution, care, 

 patience, and observation are also necessary in a daper. He 

 must approach the place with the utmost circumspection, for 

 the places where this sort of fishing is practised are where 

 willow and alder bushes line the banks, or the hollow under 

 an overhanging bank. I have crept up to such places on my 

 hands and knees, and peered through the bushes into the 

 water below. If it has been a suitable place, I have seen 

 three or four chub about a foot from the surface, and some- 

 times while I have been looking a dried stick has snapped 

 under my feet, and the chub have instantly bolted. It is, 

 therefore, necessary that caution should mark your every 

 movement. A 'No. 6 hook on the foot of tackle mentioned 

 above will be the best, put your live insect or whatever it is 

 on the hook as carefully as possible and see that everything 

 is clear. You then wind up all the spare line until only your 

 foot of gut with its two split shots hangs from the rod point, 

 turn the rod round and round until the gut is entirely 

 twisted on the rod top ; it is now ready for use. The rod is 

 poked through an opening in the bushes until the top is per- 

 fectly clear, it is then turned the reverse way until the bait 

 hangs clear, let the line run off the reel tiU the bait hangs 

 about a foot or so from the water ; carefully mark then where 

 the fish are and drop the bait over them, taking care that 

 none of the gut touches or lies on the water. The two split 

 shots are not used as sinkers, but merely to carry the line 

 through the rings of the rod and to allow you to steer the 

 bait where you like. If the angler has conducted his opera- 



