62 BRITISH SPORTING FISHES. 



depths, and once driven away the fish are slow in 



returning. 



The diet of the chub consists of insects, 

 worms, and larvae, and it takes a good deal of 

 its food from the surface. Fish of from two 

 to three pounds are not uncommon, and indi- 

 viduals have been known to attain to four 

 and five pounds in weight. Spawning takes 

 place during the earlier spring months on the 

 shallower portions of the chub's haunts, and at 

 this time the fish are much less shy than ordinarily. 

 The chub may be said to be generally distributed 

 in the south, becoming rarer in the northern 

 counties. It affects rivers that have deep, 

 shaded holes, and is rarely or never found upon 

 rocky beds or in quickly running water, 



