

PRACTICAL LESSONS IN THE GENTLE CRAFT. 5<>7 



finished, put it in a damp cloth for use. At the water-side 

 it will want working up now and again so as to keep it soft 

 and pliable, and when baiting the hook, take a piece of 

 cheese a little bigger than a thrush's egg the chub has a 

 capacious gullet, and will easily negotiate this and make 

 a hole in it with the thumb, inserting the triangle ; then 

 pinch it close round the gut, covering the hook completely. 

 By this method the hook lies encased simply by a shell of 

 cheese, which will break with the strike, when the fish 

 takes the bait. If the paste is moulded round the hook in 

 a mass it becomes very shortly a solid body, hard as a 

 bullet, and the chances are that a fish is lost by the bait 

 being pulled out of his mouth, the hooks being unable to 

 break through the bait and penetrate his leathery muzzle. 

 Strike instantly and sharply when a bite is felt ; if the fish 

 is not hooked, drop the bait ; he may try it again, if 

 hungry. If hooked, keep him away from roots and sub- 

 merged boughs, for once let him get among them, all the 

 king's horses and all the king's men won't save the tackle 

 unless one is very lucky, and if the hooked fish is lost it is 

 all up with that hole for a time, and one might just as well 

 seek fresh pastures. 



Shrimps are another bait that at certain times kill chub 

 well, and I prefer the pink to the brown. I always shell 

 them, saving husks, heads and tails, and putting them with 

 a few whole shrimps into some clay for ground bait ; and 

 then three or four of the shelled crustaceans neatly on a 

 small triangle, casting into likely places. Greaves also are 

 better on a triangle than a single hook, and the whitest and 

 softest pieces should be selected. In preparing greaves 

 the cake should be broken up and put in any old vessel 

 with just water enough to cover the contents, and into a 

 slow oven to simmer and stew until the compound is soft 



