EXPERIENCES & REMINISCENCES. 147 



their deep winter holes and swims. The wind was high and 

 boisterous most days and rendered it quite impracticable to fish 

 some of the most likely swims. Roach bit in a half-hearted 

 kind of way and there was a pretty good interval between the 

 bites. The biggest roach was about lib. and a few over fib. 

 were got, but for a river like the Trent the yield was disappointing 

 as regards the size of the fish caught. The river was running 

 in splendid order for chub fishing, but, notwithstanding most 

 careful angling with bullocks' pith and brains and also 

 "scratching," not one of that species availed himself of the lure 

 so temptingly displayed that experienced paste fisherman, 

 friend Sussex, of Kent-street, that dapperlike chap with such a 

 round tub, who never runs away from business for a " drap of 

 the crayture," was most anxious that a big chub should be 

 landed, and he obligingly sent McNab some pith and brains 

 with the following characteristic epistle : " I have forwarded 

 you some spinal vertebrae ; also some substance which you will 

 find contains dura mater, pia mater, tunica arachnoidea, 

 medullary substance, cortical substance, which is in close 

 propinquity to the cerebum of the cerebellum. All this means 

 ' brains,' of which I have very few, &c., &c." Now would it be 

 credited that the chub would not even give one solitary bite or 

 snag at this wonderful bait, but fish on certain days and in 

 certain weathers won't bite at anything you put before them. 



In the swim where the above speciality was tried an angler 

 only a month previously had taken in one day 85lbs of chub, 

 some of them up to 5lbs. each some of the readers of these notes 

 will exclaim " What a whacker," but it's solid truth. As the river 

 proper did not yield well, a backwater known as the old Trent 

 was tried and the first afternoon about 60 dace were brought 

 to bank, the nine biggest fish being splendid specimens. The 

 next day about 45 had the temerity to try whether they 

 preferred dry land to their native element, and the next 

 afternoon about 30 responded. The pool fished was full of 

 hundreds of the finest dace any angler could wish to see, but 

 the biggest fish were as a rule too wary to be caught. There 

 is no romancing about these big dace, they were to be seen by 



