Drifting against a willow bush one day, the branches of which came right
down over the water like a crinoline, I saw inside, and under the
branches, a number of fair-sized chub of about 1 lb. or 1-1/2 lbs. It
struck me that they felt themselves absolutely safe there, and that if in
any way I could get a bait over them they might take it. The entry under
which I find this chronicled is August 24th. Next morning when the sun was
hot I got a stiff rod and caught a few grasshoppers. Overnight I had cut
out a bough or two at the back of the willow bush, and there was just a
chance that I might be able to poke my rod in and drop the grasshopper on
the water. After that I must trust to the strength of the gut, for the
fish would be unplayable. It was almost like fishing in a faggot-stack.
Peering through the willow leaves I could just see down into the water
where a patch of sunlight about a yard square struck the surface. Under
this skylight I saw the backs of several chub pass as they cruised slowly
up and down. I twisted the last two feet of my line round the rod-top,
poked this into the bush with infinite bother and pluckings at my line
between the rings, and managed to drop the hopper on to the little bit of
sunny water. What a commotion there was. The chub thought they were all in
a sanctuary and that no one was looking. I could see six or seven of them,
evidently all cronies and old acquaintances, the sort of fish that have
known one another for years and would call each other by their Christian
names. They were as cocky and consequential as possible, cruising up and
down with an air, and staring at each other and out through the screen of
leaves between them and the river, and every now and then taking something
off a leaf and spitting it out again in a very independent
connoisseur-like way. The moment the grasshopper fell there was a regular
rush to the place, very different from what their behaviour would have
been outside the bush. There was a hustle and jostle to look at it, and
then to get it. They almost fought one another to get a place. Flop!