09 ANGLING. 



except it communicates 'easily and freely with some river, or 

 constantly open current. 



The fish attains a considerable size. It is said he will sometimes 

 weigh six or seven pounds ; and in some continental waters, he has 

 been known to reach the weight of ten pounds. Pish of this size, 

 however, must be very scarce; as few sportsmen can boast of 

 having seen them so large. A chub was caught in the Thames, hi 

 the month of May, 1844, which weighed four pounds. He was a 

 very strong, active fish, shot across the river like an arrow on 

 feeling himself hooked, and fought well for a full hour, before he 

 could be got out of the water. He was caught with a common 

 gut-line and, therefore, required considerable indulgence before 

 he could, be overcome. Tins was a remarkable fish in the esti- 

 mation of many who saw him. 



Chub are gregarious, and in hot weather may be seen basking on 

 the surface of the water, over some deep hols, in considerable 

 numbers. The moment they become sensible that they are 

 observed, they sink down in an instant, being perhaps, with 

 scarcely an exception, the shyest of all fish. 



The chub requires adroit m management when first hooked. But 

 clumsy and strong as he is, and tliick-headed as he looks, we 

 would nevertheless recommend the same tackle as that suggested 

 lor the carp. The lighter the tackle, the easier it is to deceive the 

 fish, and the greater the merit of overcoming him. 



The baits generally recommended for chub-fishing, are red 

 worms, gentles, grubs, bits of cheese, insects, &e. ; but as th-3 

 fish is a gross feeder, he prefers large baits to small ones, 

 invariably. A lobworm will tempt him, while a e smaller one would 

 be unheeded; and a cockchafer will attract him, when a lesser 

 insect will excite no attention whatever. The best summer bait, 

 is a large bumble-bee. If the angler will pass his hook under the 

 fore legs of the bee, without injuring Mm, and, concealing himself 

 behind a tree, or any other shelter which may overhang the 

 haunt of the chub, will dibble tlie insect on the surface of the 

 water, allowing him to burr and spin, and produce little rippling 

 circles all about him, he will soon see the chub rise leisurely out 

 of the deep, and gently suck the bee into his mouth, as a city 

 alderman laps up his cafiipee. In this manner, precisely, the large 

 one just recorded was caught in the river Thames. 



Occasionally, a chub will take a minnow or frog; but this 

 happens very seldom, and only at the close of the spring. Baits 

 have been recommended for different sections of the season, for 

 chub-fishing ; but many of them are fanciful, and some very nastv. 

 "Mies and worms will capture him at all times ; and he is scarcely 

 worth being very nice about. Grasshoppers are fine bait whenever 

 you can get them; and little pills made of tallow and cheese, 

 flavoured with musk, are said to be peculiarly tempting. The 

 Erench fish ^ for him with cherries ; but many of the anglers in 

 Prance consider the bait of more value than the fish, and seldom 

 give themselves any trouble about him. 



