

PRACTICAL LESSONS IN THE GENTLE CRAFT. 501 



time to gulp the whole of the worm, the chances are that 

 you lose your fish, from the fact that by striking too 

 hurriedly you may have only allowed him to get hold of 

 the tail end. When fishing with paste or gentles, and 

 using triangle hooks, I should strike immediately if the 

 float dipped fairly down ; for these fish are so. crafty and 

 wary that they will suck the whole of the bolus of paste 

 away from the hook, and that being effected quietly sail off. 

 Strike gently, however, and should you not succeed in 

 hooking the fish, let the bait drop quietly again, when it is 

 possible, if he is in a feeding humour, he may have another 

 try. Various grubs and caterpillars, caddis and turnip 

 worms, beetles, and a hook baited with a red worm and 

 tipped with a gentle have been from time to time 

 recommended as super-excellent lures ; my experience, 

 however, tells me that if carp will not take potatoes, well- 

 scoured lobs, red worms, or a lively bunch of gentles, 

 they won't take anything, and one might just as well go 

 home and have a rubber of whist and a pipe. 



CHUB FISHING. 



The chub, another member of the numerous carp family,, 

 attracts no inconsiderable share of the angler's attention, 

 and particularly numbering amongst his followers that 

 section who delight in getting hold of something that pulls. 

 Amongst the number is my humble self. I know of no fish 

 that I have had at the end of my line that goes with such a 

 devil of a rattle as a big chub, and as he usually when 

 pricked by a hook bolts with the speed of a rocket for the 

 first stronghold he can get to sunken roots of trees, or 

 pendant boughs overhanging hollow banks it requires no 

 little skill to keep the line and tackle out of danger. His 



