DACE AND CHUB. 321 



The chub usually spawns in May or in the latter end of 

 April, selecting for th:s purpose a shallow gravelly bottom 

 under weeds. After the spawning process it is supposed to be 

 ready to bite almost immediately. 1 The taking, however, of this 

 or any other species immediately after spawning is an unworthy 

 practice which should be discouraged by all true sportsmen, as 

 the fish are then weak, ravenous, and more or less unfit for 

 food. 



Although, as observed, the dace appears to be a -purely 

 river fish or, at any rate, cannot thrive or breed freely in waters 

 that are absolutely stagnant, I have reason to believe that the 

 chub will do both. Mr. Cox mentioned to me a pond at 

 Finchley, the name of which has now escaped me, in which it 

 was evident that chub must have bred, as those put into the 

 pond were all large fish, and specimens were subsequently 

 caught under half-a-pound. In another pond, at Guildford, 

 having a stream through it in winter though stagnant between 

 spring and autumn, chub throve and grew, but did not breed. 

 It seems probable, therefore, that no absolute rule upon the 

 subject can be laid down, and that the extent to which chub 

 will thrive and breed in stagnant and semi-stagnant waters 

 depends upon a variety of local conditions, food, &c., that 

 cannot be precisely formularised. The same observation ap- 

 plies to gudgeon which, while sometimes breeding by thou- 

 sands in ponds with a current occasionally running through 

 them, in others, apparently quite as well adapted for them, 

 become infertile. 



The following recipes for making the chub a palatable dish 

 may be of interest to those who like, on principle, to have all 

 the fish they catch cooked, and, if practicable, eaten . 



After being scaled and cleaned, they should be cut open like 

 haddocks, well peppered all over, and then a good handful of salt 

 rubbed in ; let them lie in this all night. In the morning hang 

 them up in the sun all day, to let them dry ; fry them in the 

 evening, with as little lard or butter as practicable, and eat them 



1 Daily's Angler's Instructor. 

 II. Y 



