THE CHUB. 45 



CHAPTER III. 



THE CHUB. 



BEFORE the would-be angler in the Nottingham style pro- 

 ceeds to read the following chapters on the different fish, he 

 would do well to carefully study the preceding one. Minute 

 details, as I have before remarked, are very important, and 

 should be regarded with strict attention. No one can expect 

 to be a very successful angler unless these small matters are 

 observed, and there is nothing recommended but what I have 

 proved by experience. 



I approach the subject of the chult with feelings of very 

 great respect, if not of actual veneration, for the chub with 

 the white spot on his tail was the first fish that our "father" 

 Izaak introduced to us. I remember how after I had, meta- 

 phorically speaking, swallowed that chub, how eagerly I 

 swallowed the rest of his grand old book ; and then, like 

 Alexander, who mourned because he had no more worlds 

 to conquer, I mourned because there was no more to 

 swallow ! 



Although the chub does not enjoy a very good reputation 

 from a culinary point of view, yet he is a tolerably hand- 

 some-looking fish, and when he is in good condition and 

 hooked, he will fight hard for his liberty. When we con- 

 sider that it is absolutely necessary to fish for him with fine 

 tackle, he is just the fellow to try an angler's patience and 

 the strength of his tackle, especially if the fish happens to be 

 a good-sized one. The chub is found in most of the rivers 

 of England, and likes deep, quiet holes, under overhanging 

 banks, or willow bushes, the foundations of old walls, re- 

 tired nooks, or where old piles and posts stick up out of the 

 water, providing the water is tolerably deep, though he is 



