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Big chub

Alex, do you trot bread for your chub,Used to fish Shipton on cherwell, Ruislip club stretch years ago and staying mobile with float and flake was a great chub and roach method. I would think crays would be less of a problem if the bait is moving.
 
Mark Swaby said:
Alex, do you trot bread for your chub,Used to fish Shipton on cherwell, Ruislip club stretch years ago and staying mobile with float and flake was a great chub and roach method. I would think crays would be less of a problem if the bait is moving.
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I have done Mark but tend to quiver tip mainly. The head of chub has diminished alarmingly. Last spring/summer I was coming home form work and stopped at Bletchingdon road bridge. I had a loaf of bread and wanted to see how many chub were present above and below the bridge. A few years ago the water would have been boiling with fish as you chucked the bread in. But I never saw one. Not a single chub and that was one of the most depressing things I can remember about this once terrific chub river.
 
Alex, with a small amount of Chub left the survivors must be putting on weight and the potential for a 7lb plus is real. I know its sad for the future but a mobile approach, a big float either bulk shotted or olivette would be well worth trying.You can cover lots more swims, 3 trots through without a bite and move on.It would not be good idea to feed mash if there are few fish,just the flake on the hook.I have watched the Colne go exactly as the cherwell over the last few years ,i know how you feel.
 
Sounds like a good idea Mark and I agree the potential for a huge fish is there. Good point about over feeding too, I will give it a go half term week I reckon :)
 
Like Mark S trotting is a great way to catch chub.

I tend to put a couple of handfuls of finely mashed bread into a swim and trot the same line for 10 mins or so.
Move down one swim and follow the same procedure.

Keep moving along doing the same. If you have time begin again at the top.

The drennan crystal long shank hooks are superb for this method.

Don't be afraid to use a size 8 or 6 hook and a decent sized piece of flake pinched on the shank.

Graham
 
Alex Gowney said:
I have done Mark but tend to quiver tip mainly. The head of chub has diminished alarmingly. Last spring/summer I was coming home form work and stopped at Bletchingdon road bridge. I had a loaf of bread and wanted to see how many chub were present above and below the bridge. A few years ago the water would have been boiling with fish as you chucked the bread in. But I never saw one. Not a single chub and that was one of the most depressing things I can remember about this once terrific chub river.
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I sympathise with you Alex. I'm not to clued up on your beloved Cherwell but have experienced similar on a stretch of the Wey that I've fished for umpteen years.
During closed season work parties I always liked to take time out and stand on a footbridge that defined the lower boundary of the club's stretch and feed the chub. They were always there in May and June partly due to dog walkers feeding the resident ducks, and it was always a good way to spot a potential target fish.
They no longer seem to gather there in springtime for some reason which seems strange after 30 odd years of watching them.
It's no coincidence that that particular spot is a prime poaching area and I know they get targeted by some,... shall we say, unscrupulous types!
Their numbers have definitely declined but they can still be found when employing a roving approach with mashed bread and crust in winter.
Due to poor weir operation and the stupid EA flood defence removal of overhanging cover, their preferred habitat has disappeared. There is no signal cray problem on that stretch.
It certainly seems as though some rivers are experiencing good times with chub right now, while others are witnessing a decline for what ever reason.
 
Alex. I'm pretty boring in my choice of line and tend to stick to silstar match team in 5.5 bs
For all my general float fishing and 6.6 for feeder work. After roach specifically I will change to a 3lb or 2.6 bottom.

It does very occasionally need some muscelin on it with blowy weather.

Luckily the thames kennet and loddon are still throwing up some v good chub although the summer months the last two seasons have been harder.


Graham
 
Graham Elliott said:
Alex. I'm pretty boring in my choice of line and tend to stick to silstar match team in 5.5 bs
For all my general float fishing and 6.6 for feeder work. After roach specifically I will change to a 3lb or 2.6 bottom.

It does very occasionally need some muscelin on it with blowy weather.

Luckily the thames kennet and loddon are still throwing up some v good chub although the summer months the last two seasons have been harder.


Graham
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I have not tried the Silstar, as yet, on the spool Graham, but have used it for hook lengths, for as long as it's been on the shelves. Can't imagine using anything else, for all species, bar barbel, pike, etc. :)
 
Alex i found on the Dorset Stour if you were fishing bread the first couple of trots without feeding, would quite often catch a big fish off guard.Why feed them when you could have a hook in the first piece it eats. If you catch, then put some mash into the swim and fish it some more or rest and return.The best conditions for bread is when the river is cold and has a green tinge to it.I would fish 4lb drennan specialist/drennan floatfish/ preston powerline in a similar diameter(heavier), just do not use a dark line.Spray the line with a floatant and grease the line above the float for a couple of feet.If the swims are very snaggy you can up the b/s of the line. Shipton used to be a very good section for 2lb plus roach if you get small taps/bobs on the float without it burying, go smaller and finer you might get a big surprise.I once had three 2lb plus roach in a red letter day at shipton.Good luck
 
Hi Mark. Yes I should have put Fine Mash in as FINE MASH.

Its basically damp dust that does no more than add flavour to the water to get them out from under the tree roots etc. Especially when they are kipping in the cold..
Graham
 
I agree that cold, green water is unbeatable for chub fishing. Also, same as Mark, I like Drennan super specialist line. But I usually quiver tip or freeline a moving bait for chub. As I have a nice float rod and a couple of lovely centre pins I feel inspired to give trotting a go, so thanks for the tips everyone :)

Without doubt winter chubbing is my favourite fishing of all, even beats a summers night barbeling! I used to be able to average 70-80 chub in a season on the Cherwell topped by a then stupendous fish of 6:1 in 2003. Up until that period or just before five pounders were very rare and having caught my first Cherwell five in 1988 i had to wait until 2002 for my second one! That was a good few hundred chub in between! Many of those fish were big fours as well with a frustrating amount of them being 4.14 or 4.15, it seemed so difficult to get over the five pound mark. Fishermen's tales being what they were I bumped into many anglers who had a couple of fives that day! I started to think I need to buy my scales wherever they get theirs ;)

Hopefully one day this lovely river will return to it's former glories, if not, well I'll just have to hope I bump into one of those cray guzzling sevens!
 
I feed liquidised sieved bread with some bran dust if after Roach when worried i might overfeed.But for chub i just dip sliced bread in a landing net in the river and scrunch it up in a bucket afterwards,it saves carrying a big heavy bucket around full of watery mash.I do not think chub can get overfed in the winter but those first few runs through without feeding has worked for me with the bigger fish in the swim.
 
Single maggot works well too, I keep catching these as I am fishing for Roach at the moment.



This one is a bit bigger at 7lb 2oz, but I have had several sixes lately as well.
 
Like Mark I also use Preston Reflo Power as main line for float fishing on the pin, over the last year I have been using Preston Reflo Xceed as a hook length.

Unlike Power it is more accurate in stated diameter and is a lot thiner, saying that it is quite durable, even in the finer strains.

We are soo lucky to have such high tech line available now, imho line technology is the greatest advance in angling over the past 20 years.
 
Hi Keith. Interestingly I was suprised to see Silstar as a lower stated diameter lb for lb in my bs.

Cheers

Graham.
 
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