Q. I’m looking to try and catch chub off the top on floating crust this summer – best tackle and tactics please.
Wow! This question takes me back a bit and this was one of the first methods I was taught as a youngster by my dad 20 years ago on the River Swale in North Yorkshire. Catching Chub on floating bread is a great method and, once you get them going, can be very rewarding.
Location is the key factor and with this being a great early season/summer method then anywhere with 1-2 feet of fast flowing water and a bit of cover from weed or overhanging trees should see you in with a chance of finding the fish. Weir run-offs, where the shallow runs drop into deeper water, are also a great place to find chub as they sit back in the well oxygenated water picking off any morsels of food that may come downstream. It’s simply a case of finding likely areas then throwing in a handful of crusts and keeping an eye on them as they travel downstream. On long straights you can even walk down and keep pace with the crusts over relatively long distances until you see the spot where the first one disappears!
Like any method of fishing it’s important to gain the fishes’ confidence before actually fishing for them, so once you’ve seen your first crust being taken position yourself upstream of the shoal and gradually introduce small pieces of bread and crust until the fish start moving upstream to intercept them and to compete with each other. Once they are in a state of competition it is time to introduce a hook bait. Very often you will get a bite within seconds of casting out as the bread is engulfed by a pair of huge rubbery lips!
The tackle needed is very basic to say the least. A rod with a soft tip, but a nice progressive blank is perfect as you will be using a relatively light line and the soft tip will absorb any lunges, while the blank will give you the power to keep the fish out of any snags. A 12 foot heavy waggler rod is perfect or even a 1.25lb test Avon-style rod. Couple this with a small fixed spool reel of 2500 or 4000 size loaded with a buoyant 6lb mono mainline and you won’t go far wrong.
At the business end a size 8 hook, such as a Nash Gaper, loaded with a nice big piece of crust is as difficult as it gets. Introduce the hook bait upstream and in line with the shoal of fish and wait for it to arrive at the shoal. If the fish are confident you should catch from the off. One thing you will find is after a couple of fish the shoal will start to drift downstream as they get wary. This is a good time to stop fishing and start the process all over again until they are once again confident.
Fishing with floating bread is a great early season method and because you are travelling so light it is easy to up-sticks and move swims. If one shoal spooks then there is sure to be another not too far away.
Best of luck! Lewis
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