228 COARSE FISH. 



off the pith with scissors ; all the streaks of blood must 



be washed away ; and it is a good plan to 

 ^brains ^cald the pith in boiling milk. The interior, or 



core, is too soft to stop on a hook or triangle by 

 itself, so part of the skin must be left on to afford a hold. 

 The point and barb must be run right through this skin, 

 or else fish may be missed in striking, or a single strip of 

 pith may be threaded on a hook. The brains are used 

 simply as an attraction to the fish, and not as food for 

 them. Scald the brains, a good quantity for a day's 

 baiting. The brains are cut or squeezed up, and mixed 

 with water in a tin or a large wide-mouthed bottle ; the 

 whitish fluid is poured in the swim, and the hook, baited 

 with pith, travels down with, or immediately after, it. 

 The fish seize the pith greedily, the tempting morsel 

 generally being irresistible after the white particles of 

 brain have passed by. If chub refuse pith you may con- 

 clude they are not on the feed. 



I follow the same system when baiting for chub with 



cheese, pouring a little cheesy water into the 



baits for s'^™- So gluttonous are chub for cheese, that 



chub it is not uncommon to find them disgorge a 



considerable quantity when they are caught. 

 Cheese passes through the fish with great quickness, 

 the white fluid running from the vent; though in the 

 beginning of the fishing season, the milt of a late fish 

 may be mistaken for it. In the early season they fre- 

 quently throw up lumps of semi-digested weed; so a 

 large lump of green weed might prove a killing bait. 

 If chub are kept in a punt-well for any length of time, 

 when Thames fishing in the cherry season, the number 

 of cherry stones they will void or throw up is astonishing. 



As an aid and a comfort in angling, I most strongly 



advise winding the winch with the left hand. 



Left ^][ beginners should commence in this way, 

 nana on ■ i- i i i , • r i t / 



winch avoidmg a bad habit from the outset. I do 



not claim the idea as original, but I en- 

 tirely uphold its advantages, though I used the 

 right hand on the winch for years and years before 

 altering my style. Fish should be played on the 

 rod chiefly, and the more powerful and practised hand 

 should have control of the rod. We nearly all use the 



