THE CHUB. 93 



cloth will burst when the cheese is squeezed. 

 Gather the sides of the cloth together, and dip 

 cheese and cloth for an instant in the water ; wring 

 the waste water out, and knead the cheese in the 

 cloth until all the lumps disappear. A beautiful 

 white or yellow paste will be the result. After a 

 day's " cheesing," everything reeks of cheese. The 

 ropes seem especially to hold cheese, and I have 

 had mine nibbled all to pieces by the rats in con- 

 sequence of this. Not content with nibbling the 

 ropes, they made a great hole in the punt-locker, 

 round the ventilator, and dragged the ropes out. 



Livebaiting for chub frequently kills the very 

 largest fish. Chub are incessant pests to Live- 

 Thames trout-fishermen, and the best chub baiting 

 I ever landed was tempted by a large bleak when 

 I was trouting. The tackle is similar to that for 

 long corking ; minnows, small gudgeon or bleak 

 are the best baits, the most likely swims being at 

 the tails of weir pools or alongside willows. Let 

 the bait swim about mid-water, except in very 

 deep swims, where it may be set about two feet 

 from the bottom. Hook the bait by a single hook 

 through the upper lip, and allow a little time in 

 striking. ■ Use a fixed float, not too large, in shallow 

 swims, and let the fish take the bait well. 



A four-pound chub is a good fish, though not a 

 rarity in the Thames by any means ; three- size of 

 pounders are quite common, and now and ^^^^ 

 then a surprise comes to the lucky angler in the 

 shape of a " banger " of six or seven pounds, or, 

 very rarely, a little heavier. A chub of fabulous 

 weight was landed last year at Molesey Weir by a 

 trout-fisherman, — of course, in the close season ! 



