THE CHUB. 63 



ever, and therefore the angler will find the pith the best. 

 Let him bear in mind that the clearer and finer the water is, 

 the better for pith; but if the water is discoloured, let him try 

 the worm ; also let the angler remember that the finer he 

 fishes the greater is his chance of success with this fish. 

 When the angler has a bite, the next thing is to hook his fish, 

 and this operation should be done as neatly as possible ; a 

 single turn of the wrist will be quite sufficient, for a heavy 

 tug and rough usage will result in the loss of both fish and 

 tackle. I don't like to see an angler strike his fish as though 

 he were trying to drive a whole flight of hooks into a bony 

 old pike, with a mouth like a carding machine. When first 

 hooked, Mr. Chub makes a desperate effort to escape, and 

 bolts for his hold ; he must be kept away at all hazards, if it 

 be under old roots; a steady pressure will soon accomplish this. 

 He fights well for a minute or two, but soon gives up ; and 

 when you have drawn him to you, and he lies on his side, 

 he can be run up on a shelving bank, or the net slipped 

 under him. I think I have said as much as I need say about 

 float fishing for chub, and I will now turn to another branch 

 of chub fishing, namely, fishing on the surface with live and 

 dead insects, &c. This is a very important branch of angling, 

 and is commonly called dibbing or daping; and for this 

 branch of our art no better instructions have ever been given 

 than those by Izaak Walton. The bottom fisher's rod, reel, 

 and line will do for this work, but the lower tackle must 

 only be about a foot long, with a couple of big split shots as 

 close to the loop as possible ; and for baits all sorts of creatures 

 are used, such as butterflies, humble bees, large blue-bottle 

 flies, cockroaches, beetles, grasshoppers, &c., &c., and also a 

 very small yellow frog. Caution, care, patience, and obser- 

 vation are also necessary in a daper. He must approach the 

 place with the utmost circumspection, for the places where 

 this sort of fishing is practised are where willow and alder 

 bushes line the banks, or the hollow under an overhanging 

 bank. I have crept up to such places on my hands and 

 knees, and peered through the bushes into the water below. 

 If it has been a suitable place, I have seen three or four chub 

 about a foot from the surface, and sometimes while I have 



