5 o2 PRACTICAL LESSONS IN THE GENTLE CRAFT. 



first rush over, however, he is pretty safe, and, unlike the 

 barbel, who rights with dogged pertinacity to the last, 

 quickly succumbs, and with ordinary care is soon come- 

 atable. Common in most of the English rivers, and growing 

 to a large size, the chub, or cheven, affords endless amuse- 

 ment, for he feeds well at times when other fish refuse a 

 bait. In the summer large flies and beetles of various kinds 

 tempt him ; while in autumn and winter, cheese, greaves, 

 lobs, pith from the vertebrae of the bullock, as well as live 

 bait, such as minnows and small gudgeon, attract his atten- 

 tion. It has always been the fashion to speak of him as " the 

 loggerheaded chub," and well-known angling writers have 

 described him as having an ugly misshapen head, but I 

 utterly fail to see this, and, indeed, consider him, when in 

 condition, an exceptionally handsome fish, with a longer 

 body than the carp, large silvery scales, his back of a deep 

 olive green, the belly white, the irides of the eye a shining 

 silver, pectoral fins, large and well developed, of a dusky, 

 yellow hue, ventral and anal fins a pale salmon red, while 

 the tail, slightly forked, is brown, with a distinct bluish line 

 at the extremity. They are frequently taken both in the 

 Thames and Lea, from three to four pounds in weight, it 

 being asserted that specimens from the former river have 

 come to bank of far greater calibre ; while upon the authority 

 of Dr. Bloch, we are told that fish of 8 Ib. and 9 Ib. is no 

 uncommon -size in some of the continental waters. The 

 Loddon and Mole hold gigantic fish ; from the latter river 

 came the best chub I ever saw in my life. It was taken by 

 my friend, Mr. Callen, of East Molesey was tempted by 

 a couple of shrimps, and, weighed by myself, bumped 

 down the scale at ;J Ib. Chub usually spawn in the latter 

 end of March, if the weather is open and fine, or in April, 

 and are again in full vigour in June. 



