THE CHUB. 53 



bush or its roots will sometimes hold a good fish or two, and 

 ought never to be passed by. Sometimes you may drop your 

 bait in a very unpretending-looking spot, and your float has 

 hardly time to steady itself before it goes down with a rush ; 

 and after a few minutes a three-pounder, perhaps, lies gasping 

 on the grass. This sort of fishing is a good deal practised 

 by the more experienced anglers of the Trent, and worms are 

 a bait that is often used. Indeed, if I were to be tied to one 

 particular bait, and not allowed to use any other, I should 

 instantly choose worms. I cannot say when would be the 

 best time to use worms for chub ; you can scarcely be wrong 

 any time. September and October are good months to use 

 scratchings, and gentles may be used with effect any time 

 during the summer and autumn, just for a change ; these 

 baits are the best used as near the bottom as possible. I 

 have sometimes caught chub when roach fishing with gentles, 

 but mostly at the extreme end of the swim. If you think 

 there is a chub about, a swim of a few yards further will 

 very often fetch him. Brandlings, cockspurs, and blood 

 worms may all be used with effect in this method of angling, 

 and to enable the tyro to recognize these worms, I will 

 describe them. The brandling is marked from head to tail 

 with alternate bars of red and yellow ; when handled, there 

 exudes from it a yellow fluid of a very nasty smell ; it is 

 found in old dung heaps, and almost in any old heap of de- 

 caying vegetable matter. The best are, however, found in old 

 rotten tan heaps, where they sometimes attain a large size, 

 even to three and four inches in length, and the thickness of 

 a dew worm. Brandlings of this size are not very common, 

 two inches in length is the general size. I have caught 

 barbel with the largest size, when they would take nothing 

 else ; and they are the very best bait for bream. The cock- 

 spur is a worm of a bright red colour ; it is about one and a 

 half inches long, and has a light-coloured knob about half 

 an inch from the head ; it is found in similar situations to 

 the brandling, and is a capital bait, but more especially for 

 roach, dace, &c. Blood worms are found under the excre- 

 ment of horned cattle. They are a small worm of a deep 

 red colour, and are a capital bait for chub. I believe I am 



