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BIG CHUB

Paul Richardson said:
Similar to me Rich - PB was a 7-2 caught early season when barbel fishing using method feeders on Chimera 3s but fought like a barbel
Next best was a 6-12 which took a float paternoster full bluey and was a one- toner?
Best by design 6-8 on steak.
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Was the 6,08 a swale fish Paul?
 
Joe Winstanley said:
Was that from the Swale Paul?

A 7lb chub is a beast from anywhere...but from a river that far north it's an absolute monster! I'd rate a 6lb northern chub as a more meritorious catch than a 7ln fish from a southern chalkstream. As would a 5lb chub from my local river Dane. That's not to do down a 7lb chalkstream chub btw, I had a 7lb 0.5oz chub from the Havon in 2021 by design. I regard it as the best fish I've ever caught. It was an August fish, god knows how big it would be by the end of the season!
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I’ve been catching some lovely fish, last 3 sessions I’ve had 8 fives to 5-14 and a 6-4 - all giving a tremendous scrap and all in mint condition- they aren’t old warriors

But the 7-3 was a different league - we did think it might be an 8. At first glance it was like a common! 3lb hooklink and a single maggot on an 18- brilliant angling to land that and it was by design- well into a good session and they were wising up. The lad who caught it is a superb angler.
And I wonder if that’s why them BIG fish are elusive- big powerful suspicious-I wonder how many times we get done by them and don’t even realise?
I reported I lost a good chub when the line froze in the tip ring- it shook its head and snapped 6lb hooklink - same peg as the 7-3 but we’ll never know 🤔
Awesome fish and pic Joe 👍
 
With regards the Dorset Stour and Hampshire Avon I would make the following observation:

The Stour had a decent record for producing 7s a few years back but they are much more scarce nowadays. The Avon on the other hand seems to be offering an increasing opportunity of a 7.
 
The Dorset Stour (and definitely not just Throop) still offers reasonable opportunities for a 7. The Hants Avon is currently probably a few steps ahead of the Stour in that regard. I've never had a 7 from the Avon, witnessed a few, and come close a couple of times. There again I tend to concentrate on the Stour and fully acknowledge I would need to spend far more time on that other river to improve my chances. Talk of 8's, particularly on Throop is, in my view, a very big leap. But it's a possibility.

Prior to relocating back to Dorset in 2015 I had been fortunate to have quite a number of 6's and a few 7's from the Stour. All the 7's came from Throop and had been caught on the Black Cap feeder allied to an insanely short hook link. Generous locals had shared their methods and skills with me which was a fabulous short cut.

Around 2011 I decided to concentrate on trotting for these leviathan chub. Plenty of 6's arrived but I had to wait till 2012 to get my first 7 on the float, again from Throop. I had 3 x 6's to 6:13 plus that 7:03 all on the same afternoon. The 6oz difference was huge! Between 2012 and 2015 I had 5 7's, 3 from Throop, topped by a 7:08.

I became a local again just before the 2015/16 season started and fished the Stour an awful lot in the late Autumn into Winter 2015/16. Lots of 6's with a few between 6:10 & 6:14, then a 7:11 arrived a few days before the season ended. Again that was the mega star of the show on the day the big chub really went into overdrive. I've had 3 more 7s in the last 7 years. My own overall tally of big 6's has fallen in each of those 7 years but each late season has produced a few to 6:14. My last 4 trips of last season produced 8 6's to 6:14. (my winters now usually include a fair bit of grayling fishing on the Dorset Frome as well).

Here's an image of the 7:11 from March 2016 which remains my PB.

chub7-11-3839.jpg
 
Neil Maidment said:
The Dorset Stour (and definitely not just Throop) still offers reasonable opportunities for a 7. The Hants Avon is currently probably a few steps ahead of the Stour in that regard. I've never had a 7 from the Avon, witnessed a few, and come close a couple of times. There again I tend to concentrate on the Stour and fully acknowledge I would need to spend far more time on that other river to improve my chances. Talk of 8's, particularly on Throop is, in my view, a very big leap. But it's a possibility.

Prior to relocating back to Dorset in 2015 I had been fortunate to have quite a number of 6's and a few 7's from the Stour. All the 7's came from Throop and had been caught on the Black Cap feeder allied to an insanely short hook link. Generous locals had shared their methods and skills with me which was a fabulous short cut.

Around 2011 I decided to concentrate on trotting for these leviathan chub. Plenty of 6's arrived but I had to wait till 2012 to get my first 7 on the float, again from Throop. I had 3 x 6's to 6:13 plus that 7:03 all on the same afternoon. The 6oz difference was huge! Between 2012 and 2015 I had 5 7's, 3 from Throop, topped by a 7:08.

I became a local again just before the 2015/16 season started and fished the Stour an awful lot in the late Autumn into Winter 2015/16. Lots of 6's with a few between 6:10 & 6:14, then a 7:11 arrived a few days before the season ended. Again that was the mega star of the show on the day the big chub really went into overdrive. I've had 3 more 7s in the last 7 years. My own overall tally of big 6's has fallen in each of those 7 years but each late season has produced a few to 6:14. My last 4 trips of last season produced 8 6's to 6:14. (my winters now usually include a fair bit of grayling fishing on the Dorset Frome as well).

Here's an image of the 7:11 from March 2016 which remains my PB.

View attachment 22764
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What a beast Neil! I thought it was a grass carp for a split second!
 
Joe Winstanley said:
What a beast Neil! I thought it was a grass carp for a split second!
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Although from Throop, A public footpath was directly behind me and I had an audience including a Black Labrador that went for a swim at my feet! When I got the chub in the net I thought it could well be over 8. Several anglers were in that audience including a couple of good local mates. Weighed on a couple of scales, we settled for 7:11. A memorable day.

That one, and 9 other 7's, all came on the float... over a period of 11 years. I wonder how many gallons of maggots I fed in that 11 years!
 
To answer this question it all depends on the river you fish as you can't catch big chub consistently if they aren't there in the first place. All the major rivers have been mentioned in this thread (Avon, Trent, D.Stour, etc) but when fishing you have to put it into context on the river you fish. I fish the Waveney and anything over 4lb these days is a good fish. Sure there are a few over 5lb and the remote chance of a 6lb but its not like it used to be. The fish are still there if you can find them but in much smaller numbers and my last session out I had ten fish just over 4lb. To me that's a red letter day and one I probably won't repeat any time soon
 
Neil Maidment said:
The Dorset Stour (and definitely not just Throop) still offers reasonable opportunities for a 7. The Hants Avon is currently probably a few steps ahead of the Stour in that regard. I've never had a 7 from the Avon, witnessed a few, and come close a couple of times. There again I tend to concentrate on the Stour and fully acknowledge I would need to spend far more time on that other river to improve my chances. Talk of 8's, particularly on Throop is, in my view, a very big leap. But it's a possibility.

Prior to relocating back to Dorset in 2015 I had been fortunate to have quite a number of 6's and a few 7's from the Stour. All the 7's came from Throop and had been caught on the Black Cap feeder allied to an insanely short hook link. Generous locals had shared their methods and skills with me which was a fabulous short cut.

Around 2011 I decided to concentrate on trotting for these leviathan chub. Plenty of 6's arrived but I had to wait till 2012 to get my first 7 on the float, again from Throw. I had 3 x 6's to 6:13 plus that 7:03 all on the same afternoon. The 6oz difference was huge! Between 2012 and 2015 I had 5 7's, 3 from Throop, topped by a 7:08.

I became a local again just before the 2015/16 season started and fished the Stour an awful lot in the late Autumn into Winter 2015/16. Lots of 6's with a few between 6:10 & 6:14, then a 7:11 arrived a few days before the season ended. Again that was the mega star of the show on the day the big chub really went into overdrive. I've had 3 more 7s in the last 7 years. My own overall tally of big 6's has fallen in each of those 7 years but each late season has produced a few to 6:14. My last 4 trips of last season produced 8 6's to 6:14. (my winters now usually include a fair bit of grayling fishing on the Dorset Frome as well).

Here's an image of the 7:11 from March 2016 which remains my PB.

View attachment 22764
Click to expand...
What incredible fishing
I remember a colleague going to Throop and losing a monster chub at the net
It affected him that much he wrote a book about it but for the life of me I can’t remember the name of it - stuff of legends
Lovely pic 👍
 
Nearly had my 11th 7lber (in 11 years) on the float from the Stour (Throop) yesterday. Properly weighed at 6:15 (the sort of work I'm used to from Graham Elliot but he was many miles away!). But a proper Stour chub with room to fill out even more. Paired with a plump 6:01 which I thought was a lot heavier, it was a good late afternoon!
 
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Paul Richardson said:
What incredible fishing
I remember a colleague going to Throop and losing a monster chub at the net
It affected him that much he wrote a book about it but for the life of me I can’t remember the name of it - stuff of legends
Lovely pic 👍
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I've fished the Stour a lot and for a long time although I missed out on most of the glory days of a couple of decades ago. Since retiring and returning to Dorset in 2015 I've fished it even more and had some stunning days and even more well below average and crap days. But I simply love the place for all sorts of reasons. It keeps drawing me back every winter and, God willing, hope I have a few more seasons left in me!
 
I was very lucky and got onto the Stour when it was at its very best and am glad it seems to be bouncing back. I had a lot of massive chub over about 10 years before it had a rapid decline around 2012. Being a Sunday morning Winter after January visitor it was a 200+mile journey but the Chub Fishing was spectacular on the float, trotting maggot. At its best I caught 7lb plus chub five weeks in a row and there were lots of 6lbers. It seems Crazy but I would feel hard done by if I did not get a 7 on a visit, it was that good. My Pb of 7lb 12 came in a brace of 7lb Chub, 6 over 6lb and a lot of 5's. My last session down there resulted in a single 7lb 11oz chub right at the end of a hard day, the high numbers of big fish seemed to have gone. An Otter swam through the area and fishing closer to home beckoned. Fishing this good rarely lasts and I was very lucky to have got in whilst the chub fishing was probably the best this country has ever seen. Last week I had a 7lb 5 oz Chub from the fishery I try to look after, it meant so much to me but maybe I should get better at taking photos, ( I thought I had taken a video, doh ).
 

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Paul Richardson said:
I was privileged to witness a 7-3 chub last week caught by a friend on the float
It was beyond impressive, for me the fish of a lifetime.pictures can’t do it justice - a behemoth!
This got me wondering just how rare ( or indeed common) is a fish this big today?
On one hand barbel baits will undoubtedly encourage bigger weights but I’m guessing a chub in todays rivers has to be pretty darn wily to survive to get to that age
Listening to some people 6 & 7s are common as muck, for me a 6 makes my season and I do target chub
Interested in comments/ observations
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On the Gt Ouse 5 or 6 years back fish of that size were very common. My best winter I had 24 over 6lb with 4 of those being 7lb +. As impressive as that may sound it puts it in perspective a little if I tell you that I was perch fishing until after Christmas so most of those fish came in just a couple of months.
Moving forward to the present day and its a bit of a contrast... I've fished hard all winter for a big chub and had 4 captures over 6lb, one was a 6.15 fish that I caught previously last season and two of those were a 7lb fish caught twice, a week (and 600yds) apart. 6lb and 7lb chub aren't rare at all if you catch a river at the right stage of its cycle for the species, the Thames seems to be the place to be right now!
 
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