Page:Once a Week June to Dec 1863.pdf/311

. 5, 1863.]

now to speak of a fresh-water fish, which if not held in such high estimation by anglers as are the jack, perch, trout, or roach, is nevertheless one which affords them considerable sport—viz., the chub.

The chub is a very stout and sturdy fish, not unlike the barbel in his habits, and in shape bears a closer resemblance to that inhabitant of our fresh waters than to any other of the tribe.

Chub are common to all British and nearly almost all European fresh-waters, and are very fine in our own northern lakes, as also in those of America; indeed, the splendid lakes and rivers of the New World contain inexhaustible stores of fish for the angler’s rod and line. Pike in the Canadian and northern lakes run as high as forty pounds weight, and the supply of trout and salmon-trout (Salmo ferox) is unlimited. The weight of the chub in English waters varies from half a pound to nine pounds, and the finest fish are taken in the lake districts and in the Thames. A gentle yet rapid stream is the best water in which to fish for chub. They delight to haunt old sunken stumps of trees, preferring the willow and the pollard-oak. Osier-beds, such as are found by the side of eyots and small islands, are also favourite resorts of the chub. This fish will lie basking motionless for hours on the surface of the shallow water, beneath small wooden bridges, especially where a ditch or two may happen to join the main river. Where the willow abounds there is the certainty of finding chub—and mostly heavy fish—for they lurk in the deep water beneath the gnarled roots of the trees, or in deserted rat-holes below water-mark. In this particular the chub strongly resembles the jack, as he will lie hidden in his lair for hours, darting out occasionally on his prey, but always returning to his post.

I once watched a large chub, at intervals, for several successive days thus seeking his food. His haunt was the hollow space in a clay bank, immediately below the submerged roots of a very large pollard-oak at Henley-on-Thames (in the reach above bridge). I could not mistake the identity of the fish, since it was marked across the tail-part with a broad white scar caused by the teeth of a jack. This chub was a very “old stager,” for though I tried every art to catch him—and my friends pay me the compliment of asserting that I am a thoroughly experienced fisherman—I could not succeed; and eventually, to my great indignation, he was killed by the punt-pole of a neighbouring boatman, about as surly a Diogenes as one need wish to encounter. The weight of this chub, which I saw put in the scales myself, was six pounds one ounce, and the barest possible fraction over.

Chub are not very dainty feeders, and will bite readily at gentles, lob-worms, red-worms, and various sorts of flies; and where brambles overhang the water, I have seen them taken with a blackberry. A grass-hopper, a humble bee, a cockchafer, and a white moth, have all been used with success on hot evenings in July and August for taking very large chub, but these baits are of no use unless the fish are known to run heavy. When the angler fishes thus he must keep quite out of sight, taking care not to throw his shadow on the water, which would scare the fish. He should keep behind the trees bordering the river bank, and let his bait drop gently on the water in the eddy of the stream where the largest fish always lie. If there be a large chub “on the feed,” within sight of the bait, he is certain to pouch it. I have used the white moth in this manner with much success. This kind of angling requires great skill, and I must also add considerable experience. Another excellent plan is to proceed along the willows on a river in a boat rowed by another person. Let the fisher use for his bait a well scoured red lob-worm, and throw his line gently twenty yards a-head of the boat as if fly-fishing, the rower halting at every cast for about half a minute, which is sufficient time, for if a large chub intend to bite, he will do so at once, or not at all. Or a punt may be used for this kind of fishing. I have seen very heavy chub thus taken. The smaller chub may be taken with the gentle as in roach-fishing. In this case, fasten your punt close underneath the willow-boughs, or by a clay bank where there is a quick stream. Use roach tackle, but a rather stouter hook (say No. 9), and have a ground-bait to attract the fish, made of stale bread and bran, mixed with a few gentles, the same as for roach, or a ground-bait of clay and small red worms, in which latter case your bait must be a red worm. The last-named method I prefer, and would recommend where chub are plentiful; but it depends much upon the waters in which you fish, as it is well known that a plan adopted with great success in some rivers, will altogether fail in others. I have taken very fine chub with a minnow-bait when perch-fishing, and where I have known the chub to run large—say, from three pounds upwards—I have intentionally used the minnow-bait with the sole purpose of catching large chub, and have thus secured three or four brace of heavy ones. Of course, the minnow-bait has this advantage, that you have always the chance of a perch or jack taking it, and indeed it often happens, where anglers are fishing with the minnow in a chub haunt, that a large jack or two is secured; since jack, like the chub, are exceedingly fond of lurking under the submerged roots of old trees. I have often, on such an occasion, dropped my minnow actually into a jack’s mouth. A large jack, thus hooked, requires much skill to land, as he is more likely than not to snap the gut, for gimp hooks are not used in chub-fishing. It is certainly a great feat in angling to land a jack of any size with a gut-line, and one for which the fortunate sportsman may take to himself considerable credit.

I may safely assert that the average weight of the chub in Great Britain is from one to four pounds, though in the Thames, and many other waters, they are taken much larger. Chub are only of value for the sport they afford, since their flesh is coarse and bony, and has that peculiar flavour known to anglers as “muddy.” They are