NATURAL HISTORY. 



429 



LEUCISCUS. 



Cephalus (Gr. 



f, a large-headed fish), the Chub. 



The CHUB is also common in most of our rivers. It affords 

 good sport to the angler, both with a fly and with a bait. 



The usual bait employed is a cockchaffer, which, when fas- 

 tened to the hook and artistically made to dance on the surface 

 of the water, is a temptation that few Chub can resist. This 

 method of fishing is termed " dibbing," and the peculiar move- 

 ment is communicated to the bait by tapping the butt end of 

 the rod, while the cockchaffer or moth just rests on the surface 

 of the water. 



Its flesh is very coarse, and requires so.me skill on the part 

 of the cook to make it fit for the table. Ite weight rarely ex- 

 ceeds five pounds, but it is very powerful, and requires a strong 

 line and skilful management on the part of the angler.* 



* A well-known piscator at Oxford, while fishing with a fly from a small skiff, 

 succeeded in hooking a Chub, apparently weighing about four pounds, which actually 

 towed him up and down stream for some time, until the line, not calculated for Chub, 

 snapped, and the fish of course escaped. 



