COARSE-FISHING MEMORIES 



fishing. Elders and betters are always given the floor if they 

 want it. On the Broads I have often been worried by small 

 fish for an hour or two and then seen no more of them. Be- 

 fore the big fellows have begun, though, there has sometimes 

 been an interval of inaction. I fancy the Norfolk bream move 

 about a good deal, and it may be that the small fry can detect 

 their coming from some distance away, removing themselves 

 in good time. 



Some of my happiest memories are of fly-fishing for chub 

 and dace, fish which are accursed in trout streams, but invalu- 

 able for sport elsewhere. Chub-fishing, in particular, is a 

 pastime which is worth cultivating. I know no branch of the 

 sport to which a blazing, hot, windless day is well suited but 

 this, no other in which you can have your fill of summer and 

 a heavy creel at the same time. On the Thames, Ouse, Severn 

 and other rivers I have had unforgettable hours with logger- 

 head, stalking him from a distance, dibbling for him from be- 

 hind a tree, drifting after him in a boat, or wading up behind 

 him on the gravel shallows. 



On hot days the chub has the admirable habit of lying close 

 to the surface, and as he is a dark-backed fish of distinguished 

 presence you can see him from afar. That he always looks 

 bigger than he really is, I do not think a defect in him ; the 

 deception of the eye stimulates the pulses and adds to the 

 excitement of the chase. For it is not easy to get within casting 

 distance of the 4-pounder lying yonder by the mouth of 

 the little ditch. He can, I verily believe, see with his tail as 

 well as his eyes, and that gives him certain advantages. The 



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