THE CHUB. 39 



Large takes of chub are made thus: In Nottingham, 

 bullock's brains and pith are fished with ; the pith is 

 simply the spinal marrow, this is used for the hook. 

 Cut the outer rind off with a sharp pointed pair of 

 scissors, and wash the contents carefully; some recom- 

 mend it to be scalded. Some not. The angler can try 

 both and please himself. A pipe of it about an inch long 

 does for one bait. It is very tender, and needs some pains 

 to fix it on the hook. The brains should be scalded, a few 

 fragments being thrown in from time to time, and allowed 

 to drift past the bushes along which the angler may be 

 fishing. It is a very taking bait, and chub are very fond 

 of it in mid-winter, when it is chiefly used. There are 

 many other baits, as cheese cut into square bits of goose- 

 berry size, rotten cheese and suet beaten to a stiff paste. 

 Greaves, and even worms or wasp grubs, answer nearly as 

 well, and the tail of the fresh-water crawfish boiled is a 

 choicely good bait for " big uns." 



The chub is very carnivorous, and will eat a variety 

 of things, and beetles, grasshoppers, cockchafers, humble 

 bees, &c., do well for dibbing or daping; or a very 

 small live frog, only a bit of the skin of the back 

 being taken on the hook so as to preserve his life 

 without injury, is a capital lure. Chub holes or bushes 

 are generally pretty well known, and the angler, in 

 getting to one to dape, must keep out of sight, and 

 make as little motion with his rod point as possible, 

 moving it slowly and circumspectly ; for, though the fish 

 bites boldly when not frightened, he is easily alarmed, 

 and you rarely catch more than two, or at the outside 

 three, chub out of the same hole, without giving the others 

 twenty minutes' rest to recover. The hook used, both for 

 float fishing and daping, should be suited to the bait and 



