Hitting Chub Bites

[bradydavidjohn]

Hi all, so I'm quite new to river fishing but I would say I'm an intermediate angler in general. I've been focusing on ledgering, mainly with feeder for chub this winter on local rivers. I was at the Wharfe today and was fishing with size 10 hook, bteadflake and liquidised bread in 40g cage feeder, 2oz glass tip. Fishing down inside edge under a tree downstream.

First cast I got this beauty, easy to detect bite, tap tap pull. But after that there were definitely fish plucking at the bait, but kept striking with no fish. Should I be waiting for a definite pull round for chub on a river?

Thanks in advance.

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[xenon]

In a word, yes.

 

[john step]

Chub are difficult at times to say the least.
In clear water you can see them pick up a bait in the lips with no chance of the hook being in the mouth.
Can you fish that spot by laying on with an avon type float ? Perhaps more sensitive and easier to read bites? Looks like fast water though?
A slug or worm can get savage bites at times.
Trotting maggots past the side of the tree?
The tap taps may be minnows? One chub and the rest shied off. Try baiting/ moving multiple swims?

The main thing is you have a great river to get to know and improve on. Lucky s*d
Nice chub by the way and welcome to FM.

 

[108831]

Try a size six or a four and a decent lump of flake or crust,very often where you place your lead in the swim is a lot to do with hooking chub,quivertipping,having the right tip also makes a difference,could these bites be from smaller chub,because though savage biting,they are more difficult,trotting is better for hitting bites,all depends if the fish are prepared to take a moving bait...

 

[Keith M]

Flake

I was at the Wharfe today and was fishing with size 10 hook, bread flake and liquidised bread in 40g cage feeder, 2oz glass tip. Fishing down inside edge under a tree downstream.

First cast I got this beauty, easy to detect bite, tap tap pull. But after that there were definitely fish plucking at the bait, but kept striking with no fish. Should I be waiting for a definite pull round for chub on a river?

Thanks in advance.

Nice Chub, your river looks superb albeit still a tad high

It sounds to me like it could be smaller fish having a nibble at your flake; which might mean that it won’t stay on your hook long enough for the next decent sized Chub which comes along. Why not try a peeled prawn or a piece of worm or even a piece of Luncheonmeat or something similar which the small fish would have a little more trouble at breaking down?

And I’d usually wait for a more positive bite.

Keith

 

[Molehill]

I'm no expert but chub are very canny especially if they are fished for a bit. They are also quite greedy and eventually their stomach overdoes their caution - if you are lucky!
I would keep the ground bait, loose or feeder trickling in to gain confidence and also try holding the rod with a loop of slack line, soon as you feel some interest give the slack so the fish can start to move off without rod tip resistance. Worth a try and has worked for me.

 

[bradydavidjohn]

Chub are difficult at times to say the least.
In clear water you can see them pick up a bait in the lips with no chance of the hook being in the mouth.
Can you fish that spot by laying on with an avon type float ? Perhaps more sensitive and easier to read bites? Looks like fast water though?
A slug or worm can get savage bites at times.
Trotting maggots past the side of the tree?
The tap taps may be minnows? One chub and the rest shied off. Try baiting/ moving multiple swims?

The main thing is you have a great river to get to know and improve on. Lucky s*d
Nice chub by the way and welcome to FM.

Thanks John, yes I think I'll try that venue trotting next. Good idea, the water on this stretch is very fast, good for grayling so I tried to find the slower water for the chub with some trees as cover. Cheers

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[bradydavidjohn]

Try a size six or a four and a decent lump of flake or crust,very often where you place your lead in the swim is a lot to do with hooking chub,quivertipping,having the right tip also makes a difference,could these bites be from smaller chub,because though savage biting,they are more difficult,trotting is better for hitting bites,all depends if the fish are prepared to take a moving bait...

Thanks mate, yes I will try trotting on my next trip for sure

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[bradydavidjohn]

Flake


Nice Chub, your river looks superb albeit still a tad high

It sounds to me like it could be smaller fish having a nibble at your flake; which might mean that it won’t stay on your hook long enough for the next decent sized Chub which comes along. Why not try a peeled prawn or a piece of worm or even a piece of Luncheonmeat or something similar which the small fish would have a little more trouble at breaking down?

And I’d usually wait for a more positive bite.

Keith

Thanks Keith, yes I'll try worms I think next time, and a bit of meat! The river was definitely carrying a little extra water, which made it hard to find the slacks. But at least I got one haha

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[bradydavidjohn]

I'm no expert but chub are very canny especially if they are fished for a bit. They are also quite greedy and eventually their stomach overdoes their caution - if you are lucky!
I would keep the ground bait, loose or feeder trickling in to gain confidence and also try holding the rod with a loop of slack line, soon as you feel some interest give the slack so the fish can start to move off without rod tip resistance. Worth a try and has worked for me.

I'll try that thanks mate, the slack line makes sense so they don't detect the resistance of the rod tip

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[chevin4]

I normally use a hook length of no longer than 14 inches if I am link legering with Flake or Cheesepaste. If I am maggot or caster fishing with inline feeders the hook length will normally be around 3inches. If I am using cheesepaste I mount a 12mm cork ball on a hair and mould the paste around both the shank of the hook and the cork ball. Even on hard fished waters I find the bites on both methods very decisive sometimes lifting the rod of the rest in fact more like a barbel bite. I generally use a glass quiver tip of 2oz.

 

[108831]

I normally use a fixed paternoster rig for chub,the distance from the knot to the lead is about 3" from the knot to the hook10/12",as I say I tend to use large hooks,always ensuring the point is out on flake,on cheesepaste it doesn't matter quite so much as the bait is so soft....

 

[John Aston]

I too use a short hooklength but far bigger hooks- typically a 4 , with a pad of crust on the bend of the hook and a big lump of smelly cheese paste. I'd expect to move swims if no bite within 30-40 minutes, rather than altering bait /rig/loose offerings . Tricky bites can go with the territory of chub fishing - best advice I can give is to touch leger , as sensibly mentioned above . Just pull a foot or so loop of line over your left hand - when the first little knock is felt, feed it slack line as the line tightens before striking .

 

[flightliner]

On some tree covered or classic raft swim a bite can come pretty quickly if a feeder is introduced early in the session so with your first trip to the swim out of the way next time try it holding back a bit but introduce bait little and often, this could have the effect of getting the Chub competing for the bait-- in feeding mode this could produce more than just the odd fish.
Chub being cautious creatures can also back off and settle a little lower downstream but still in the seemingly safe environment of the overhanging tree or raft, so, if still on the feeder try, if possible, to induce another bite by lengthening by however much you feel the fish may have dropped back downstream your hook length, maybe by a foot at a time until a fish is connected or doesnt seccumb at all.
That leaves one other option before leaving for another spot or trying with float tackle, that's to go below the tree, maybe shorten the hook length to A few short inches and cast carefully towards the nearest tree branches, as the Chub at this time could be clear of the tree but still within reach of its safety.
Take note here too of the position of the sun if its a nice bright day as the Chub will position themselves so as to be in semi darkness.
Fish if you can to take advantage of this help from nature, its worked for me a few times in the past.
Hope this helps.

 

[bradydavidjohn]

I normally use a hook length of no longer than 14 inches if I am link legering with Flake or Cheesepaste. If I am maggot or caster fishing with inline feeders the hook length will normally be around 3inches. If I am using cheesepaste I mount a 12mm cork ball on a hair and mould the paste around both the shank of the hook and the cork ball. Even on hard fished waters I find the bites on both methods very decisive sometimes lifting the rod of the rest in fact more like a barbel bite. I generally use a glass quiver tip of 2oz.

That's good to know mate thank you, I've just made up some cork short hair rigs for cheese paste so I'm glad to hear you've found some succes with it. They're around 14" as well. I didn't realise a shorter hooklength for magott feeder would work, but I'll give it a go!

 

[bradydavidjohn]

On some tree covered or classic raft swim a bite can come pretty quickly if a feeder is introduced early in the session so with your first trip to the swim out of the way next time try it holding back a bit but introduce bait little and often, this could have the effect of getting the Chub competing for the bait-- in feeding mode this could produce more than just the odd fish.
Chub being cautious creatures can also back off and settle a little lower downstream but still in the seemingly safe environment of the overhanging tree or raft, so, if still on the feeder try, if possible, to induce another bite by lengthening by however much you feel the fish may have dropped back downstream your hook length, maybe by a foot at a time until a fish is connected or doesnt seccumb at all.
That leaves one other option before leaving for another spot or trying with float tackle, that's to go below the tree, maybe shorten the hook length to A few short inches and cast carefully towards the nearest tree branches, as the Chub at this time could be clear of the tree but still within reach of its safety.
Take note here too of the position of the sun if its a nice bright day as the Chub will position themselves so as to be in semi darkness.
Fish if you can to take advantage of this help from nature, its worked for me a few times in the past.
Hope this helps.

Thank you for all the advice there, it is really helpful. Some things I just haven't considered. I'll be sure to put them into practice my next time out!

 

[chevin4]

That's good to know mate thank you, I've just made up some cork short hair rigs for cheese paste so I'm glad to hear you've found some succes with it. They're around 14" as well. I didn't realise a shorter hooklength for magott feeder would work, but I'll give it a go!

It's a versatile set up. I mold just enough paste around the ball for it to sink slowly.
Its surprising how buoyant the cork ball is by reducing the paste you can create a pop up by placing a large shot say 3inches from the hook.

 

[thames mudlarker]

There’s an easy way around that ....... touch ledger,

Once you’ve mastered the art of touch ledgering and especially for chub you’ll never regret it ?

 

[mikench]

Stuart you are back and most welcome. I hope you are well in these strange times.

 

[thames mudlarker]

Stuart you are back and most welcome. I hope you are well in these strange times.

Hi there Mike, yea decided to have wander back onto the forum and see what’s happening, hope yer all ok and be safe ??

To be honest most of me time is spent on Facebook Lol