THE CHUB. 57 



some hanging in a bag just as I gathered them for nearly a 

 week, and forgot all about them ; when I saw the bag again, 

 I thought they would be dry and withered, but judge of my 

 surprise when I found the grub to be alive and well, although 

 the shell was as dry as a stick. They were smaller, however, 

 than they were at first, so the best plan is to use them the 

 same day that you get them ; the fresher they are the better. 

 When you use them for bait, carefully open one end of the 

 shell and draw out the grub ; a good one is a bright yellow 

 colour with a black head, but some of them are a dark 

 colour, and some green ; these are useless for the hook, the 

 yellow ones are the best. Some of them are a deal larger 

 than a wasp grub. Being the larvse of various water-flies, 

 they are rather tender, so that you must be careful in putting 

 them on the hook. Nevertheless, they are a grand bait for all 

 sorts of fish, two of them on a No. 8 hook are a bait that a 

 chub cannot resist. Kove about and drop them in all likely- 

 looking spots, and if the fish are on the feed, you will not 

 only take chub, but barbel, bream, dace, &c. ; in fact, I have 

 seen some grand bags of all sorts of fish taken with this bait 

 (and with shame be it said, some of them taken in the month 

 of May, when the ova has dripped from the fish as they have 

 been bagged). A fine tackle about three or four feet long, 

 with a quill float that will carry six or seven small split shots, 

 is the very best for this sort of work, and with the same 

 tackle can be used another deadly and irresistible bait, 

 namely, the wasp grub. This is generally used in August 

 and September. If the angler knows of a wasp's nest, let 

 him proceed to take it after this fashion. He procures an 

 ounce or two of common fine gunpowder, and works it up 

 with a little water into a stiff paste ; it is rolled in an oval 

 shape, with a point at one end. I need not say that the 

 angler must operate on a wasp's nest with a good deal of 

 caution. Carefully note the hole from which the wasps pass 

 in and out, and cut a sod that will fill it nicely, then walking 

 boldly up to the hole, light the thin end of the gunpowder 

 paste, then thrust it into the hole, which hole must be in- 

 stantly stopped up with the sod already mentioned. Stamp 

 your heel on this to force it in tight. After a few minutes, 



