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Big chub

Graham,..Howard,..It seems that we are experiencing the good times with chub fishing on some rivers at present.
The Kennet seems to be doing the business at the moment according to what some of you report.
The shoal fish on the middle Avon are 5's now, and a 6 seems to be just matter of fact!
Why this should be, or how long it will last remains to be seen, but there has never been a better time to get out on the river and bag a pb.
 
On my local Thames tributary the chub have never been as big.... A lot of bait goes in but also there is the 'cray' diet :)
 
Must get off me fat a**e and travel a bit for some better sport....
are any of the middle stretches that are producing BAA ?
 
Im gonna have a day on the avon tomorrow...

Ive read with interest the pro's and cons of hair rigs for chub - do any of you have any opinions to offer?
 
Chris,..as Paul C. has already said, if you hair rig for chub make sure the hair is short enough to position the bait against the bend of the hook. Chub have a knack of rejecting a bait presented on a longer hair.
It is a trait I use to my advantage when hair rigging casters for barbel and don't want to disturb the swim by latching into a chub.
If I was roving and moving a bait through a swim, I would dispence with the hair altogether.
Best Of luck & tight lines;)

PS...Forgot to mention a well known tip I got from Bill Rushmer.
Small 6mm boilies can work really well, fished on a bayonet hair rig. Buy some cheap size 10 eyed hooks and cut off the bend, leaving the shank and eye,..do protect your eyes when doing this!.
I then tie the 'hook' onto some 5lb micro braid and then tie a knotless knot as usual. Position the eye of the 'bayonet' just below the bend as previously mentioned. The boilie is then just pushed onto the bayonet,..making sure to cover the eye.
As long as you don't use really soft baits the boilie stays on well.
Caught a club record Wey chub using this rig a few years back!
 
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I add blue cheese concentrate, about 6 or 7 drops,..this is the mix that signalled the end of my bait making days in the kitchen! Boy does it stink
I tried adding different food colourings, which all worked but I found green seemed to have the edge when used as a freelined offering to a targeted fish in clear conditions....great bait Paul
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Can you tell me the make of the concentrate you use please and may be where I can get hold of some.Thanks
Scaz
 
Dave, I have not tried this, but I have heard it said that hairs are also successful for chub if you go the other way...a really long hair. Have you any experience of this?

Cheers, Dave
 
David Gauntlett said:
Dave, I have not tried this, but I have heard it said that hairs are also successful for chub if you go the other way...a really long hair. Have you any experience of this?

Cheers, Dave
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I agree Dave and I would always opt for the longer than average hair if I was targeting chub. I think it may depend what the chub on your stretch have become used to but I found shortening the hair led to even more frustration as the tip pulled round but the strike met thin air. A longer hair would often solve this. This was mainly on the Cherwell and Thames some years back. If chubbing now I don't use a hair as I would most likely be using bread or worms anyway. Meat and cheese I prefer to put straight on the hook regardless, for chub or barbel.
 
Dave, Alex,.. I have found that standard length hairs often result in the rod tip rattling and a missed fish. This does not apply to barbel though.
When fishing a visible swim on the Hamp. Avon which has a good head of both chub and barbel I have been able to observe whats occurring when this has happened,..ie, if it's a chub or a barbel.
After fishing a productive swim for two concecutive days a couple of autumns ago, I was lucky enough to land 3 doubles and 6 smaller barbel with only 2 chub in amongst them,..even though the swim had a very good head of 5-7lb chub snaffling my hemp and casters. I could watch the chub come to the bait and tap the end of the rod without hooking up.
The chub were well worth going after, so I returned on the third morning and used the same rig and bait except for a shorter hair and ended up with 6 chub between 5.14 and 6.15, with one more double figure barbel.
Now this maybe, as Alex says, about what fish have become used to on a certain venue,..it's often unwise to read too much into such behaviour, but we can only go on what experience has taught us.
This has happened to me on numerous occassions,..and as I mentioned the standard hair normally helps to prevent unwanted chub, when targeting a good barbel.
Chub are very good at quickly spitting out a bait, whereas I don't believe barbel are quite as sharp. Maybe it's the different shape mouths that make rejecting a bait more difficult for a barbel,..not really sure though.
What I do remember well is when targeting chub in clear water with a clear bubble float and maggots, you had to keep a sharp eye on the single hookbait and strike when you saw the white insides of the chubs mouth,..if you just watched the float the bait would have often been rejected.
Dave ,..can't say that I have heard of very long hairs working for chub, I would have thought it may increase the chances of a foul-hooked fish.
Bites could be missed on a short hair when using a large bait if the hook is too small,..I don't often hair rig sizable baits for chub.
 
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For my money it is somewhat of a myth to say hair rigs are no good for chub.i have caught hundreds on hair rigs set at 5mm from the hook.i fish my local Dane and have had 3 chub over 5ib the best going 5/4 from this river and they are very good chub here.the bait was the halibut pellet.not to brag but for youngsters who happen to read this.kick it around .its the only way to learn
If you blank don't blame me:)
Albert
 
Chris,
Reference BAA chub spots, cotheridge on the teme has always done well for me with mashed bread and cheese paste. 5lb12oz was my best, though it looked like it had been in the wars!
 
I can't remember where I've read this but it was someone who regularly caught big chub on the Lea (it may even have been on here!). He often fishes with a semi-fixed bolt rig. I can't recall what he did regards hair length, but he was catching specimen sized fish.

Had a look through the other species thread and found this:https://barbel.co.uk/site/vbulletin/forum/other-species-fishing/1786-chub-15.html

It was Simon King. He said at the time he was going to be trying rubber boilies to thwart the crayfish. I'm going to pm him to see how he went on!
 
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Anthony Pearson said:
I can't remember where I've read this but it was someone who regularly caught big chub on the Lee (it may even have been on here!). He always fished with a semi-fixed bolt rig with a short hooklength. I can't recall what he did regards hair length, but he was catching specimen sized fish.
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It wasn't me, but that is the tactic/rig I use on the Avon when fishing caster.
I don't use a feeder, but continuely baitdrop with a small dropper.
 
Anthony Pearson said:
I can't remember where I've read this but it was someone who regularly caught big chub on the Lea (it may even have been on here!). He often fishes with a semi-fixed bolt rig. I can't recall what he did regards hair length, but he was catching specimen sized fish.

Had a look through the other species thread and found this:https://barbel.co.uk/site/vbulletin/forum/other-species-fishing/1786-chub-15.html

It was Simon King. He said at the time he was going to be trying rubber boilies to thwart the crayfish. I'm going to pm him to see how he went on!
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Anthony, unless I am more confused than I thought...I think you will find that Simon very sadly lost his battle with lung cancer in September.

Dave.
 
Thats very sad if you are correct Dave,..I googled 'hair rigging for chub' early this evening and Simon's thread was one of the first to appear,..oh dear.
 
Simon was a mine of information and an excellent poster too.

Interesting to hear so many differing views on hair rigging for chub. I have definitely found an increased hair length hooks more whereas the majority seem to find the opposite! What I find interesting is that possibly the smartest fish of them all, the tench, seems easier to catch on a hair rig than chub :confused:
 
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