58 BOTTOM riSHTNG IN THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE. 



casts, but I have always found one quite sufficient. The 

 flies, generally going under the name of " chub flies," are red, 

 black, and grey palmers, and a big coch-y-boudhu ; the best 

 fly perhaps being the black, with silver tinsel. Whatever 

 fly you use, they should be big, with plenty of hackle about 

 them, and ought to have a strip of white kid attached to the 

 bend of the hook by way of a tail. I have seen scores of 

 chub flies that are sold at the tackle shops, and they don't 

 seem to me to be dressed big enough ; a good big fly that 

 drops in the water with a flop so as to attract the attention 

 of the chub is the best. Fine tackle is not needed for this 

 work, indeed, some use a cast of salmon gut. If you 

 are fly fishing in a boat under the boughs, where the water 

 cannot be fished very well from the bank, stout tackle is 

 necessary, for the hook very often gets hung across flags, 

 rashes, or twigs, and a sharp haul is necessary to loosen it, 

 hence the convenience of strong tackle, for if fine were 

 used the boat would have to be taken into the boughs, and so 

 spoil the spot. Besides, stout tackle is necessary to haul a 

 three-pounder out of his fortress of old roots, &c. 



Chub begin to get under the boughs about August, and I 

 think that is the best time to go after them with the f\.y. 

 Your fly should be thrown across the stream as far as you 

 can ; and allow it to work round over every eddy that curls 

 round, and perhaps a bold rise and boil in the water will 

 reward you. 



As this work more particularly relates to bottom fishing in 

 the ^^ottingham style, I think I have said as much as I need 

 say about fly fishing for chub, and as chub is my favourite 

 fish, I have given him the place of honour in this little book, 

 it is rather a lengthy chapter, but I have said nothing but 

 what the angler ought to know. I hope I have been very 

 plain in my directions. 



