THE CHUB. 61 



be extravagant in this matter, a very few pieces are quite 

 sufficient. The pith itself when you first see it looks a very 

 dirty and disagreeable affair ; the pieces are about as thick as 

 your fore-finger, and I have had them a foot long. The skin 

 must be slit from end to end with a pair of fine-pointed 

 scissors, carefully pulled off, and thrown away, being use- 

 less. The pith must then be carefully washed two or three 

 times in clean water, till it is perfectly clear from blood and 

 all other impurities, and as white as curd. Some anglers re- 

 commend that it should be scalded, boiled, &c., but I say 

 don't be deluded into doing anything of the sort, for I have 

 tried it, and boiling ever so little makes it very soft, and it 

 won't stop on the hook at all. I say, do nothing more 

 to it than what I have recommended above. One of the 

 correspondents of the Fishing Gazette, a few weeks ago, 

 recommended the angler to try sheep's pith, as being whiter 

 than bullock's; and another correspondent says, that "he 

 boils the pith till it becomes hardened, and then tosses it in 

 bran till cool. The bran shales when you are using it, and 

 is rather attractive than otherwise." My own experience is 

 not very favourable to boiling ; and when I have seen some 

 of our best men try this bait, they always have it as I have 

 recommended. After it is washed clean, it is ready for use ; 

 and for this bait a No. 4 hook is the best. Cut off a piece 

 of pith about the size of a hazel nut, and put the hook through 

 a,nd through it several times, till you have worked the pith up 

 the shank ; it will then stop on the hook very well. When 

 you have a bite with this bait, play your fish very carefully, 

 for I have found that two out of three of the fish so caught 

 have only been hooked by the skin at the side of the mouth ; 

 handle them roughly, and you will be sure to lose them. I 

 have tried triangle hooks, double hooks, and single hooks of 

 the sizes of 6, 7, or 8's, but I find I lose the fewest fish with 

 a single No. 4, and what I find to be the best myself, I shall 

 in all cases recommend to others. Lately I have tried a new 

 hook for this bait, and it is a double-brazed one with the 

 points reversed, i.e. sneck bent in opposite directions. This 

 is a capital hook, and, I believe, has more holding power than 

 a single hook ; but it is more particularly valuable as a hook 



