On The Chub Trail – Part 5

Chub fanatic Dave Slater has had an almost lifelong love affair with fishing, an affair that began some 50 years ago, when he first picked up a rod. Much of that time has been spent chasing chub, a species he considers to be special. In this series of five articles Dave (“I’m not an expert, just experienced”) is sharing some of those experiences with us.

STATISTICS
I have recorded all chub weighing over 4lb I caught from June 1984 to the time of writing this article, 9th November 2003. These are shown by year rather than by season to tie in with the Chub Study Group records. I will attempt to illustrate what the information shown in the tables below shows, together with my own observations. I believe that a great deal of information can be obtained by keeping records. I am able to filter the information on these tables down to give details of what I have caught on specific venues, baits etc. by going into my database. This can be very useful at times. For example I may wish to see which bait has been the most successful on a specific river during a particular month. I can access this information in a matter of seconds and it can be a very useful tool at times. I would recommend keeping records if sufficient time is available. I am aware that statistics can be boring but I think there is some useful information in these tables. It may just help to put an extra chub or two on the bank.

Dave and his huge 7lb 12oz chub (click for bigger picture)

Venue Results Table

In isolation the information in the table shown above would not mean very much. If I combine the information in the table with my own observations it illustrates a few points. Look at the ratio of 5lb plus fish to the total. This is why I fish the Stour more often than the Avon. Conversely the banker swims I keep back for when I am struggling are mainly on the Avon. The Avon holds far more chub weighing under 4lb than the Stour, on some stretches anyway. If I fished the Avon as much as the Stour I suspect that the total number of 4lb fish would be as high, or higher, than the total for the Stour. Despite the higher average weight of the Stour fish I believe the Avon is capable of producing the ultimate biggest fish, although these are very difficult to find as Avon fish tend to move around more.

The table illustrates that knowledge of rivers gained over a period of time helps to achieve consistent results. There are big fish rivers that do not appear on the table, although I have fished them a few times. If I had the same knowledge of these rivers as my local ones the capture of big chub would be inevitable. The Wye is a prime example. The table also illustrates that stillwaters are a very viable alternative when the rivers are not fishable.

Bait Results Table

Cheese Rules okay!
The table shown above gives some very useful information on baits but a few comments should be added to make the table more meaningful.

I believe that cheese is the supreme chub bait, particularly if a lot of fishing is done in the evenings. If more fishing was done in the day then bread would run it very close but much of my fishing is done in the evenings.

In my experience it is best to use fairly fresh cheese. This goes against much of what has been written in the past about smelly baits but my results have been much better when using fresh baits. I usually mix two or more cheeses together, a main cheese and small quantities of other cheeses to keep the bait soft. I never mix bread with my cheese as this can ferment if left for a while and can put the chub off. I have tried the cheese and pastry mixes but can see no advantage in using these mixes; after all it is the cheese that the chub like the taste of so why mix anything else in? The only additive I may occasionally use is a little margarine in the winter months, especially if it is a cold winter.

Maggots are mainly used when the chub are shoaled up. They are the supreme chub bait in these circumstances but too expensive to use when it is necessary to feed off small fish to draw the chub into a swim.

The figures for meat are slightly distorted by stillwater fish, as this is the best bait on the stillwaters I fish. It is also the main bait I use over beds of particles. I really should use lobworms more, and intend to do so in the future. When this table is updated in years to come I believe they will feature heavily.

I also intend to use bread more as a hookbait. I often use liquidised bread in a feeder with cheese hookbaits. I have done this in the past because I have done so well using cheese. I believe I will do just as well with bread using this method. I will continue to use cheese when not using the feeder, as I believe it is unbeatable, especially on evening sessions.

Sweetcorn was very effective several years ago but does not work so well now.

I will not use pellets or boilies, as I believe they are more appropriate to carp fishing. These baits do, however, work very well for those who use them.

I have experimented with special pastes but not found them to be as effective as more conventional baits. Although I have caught a few chub on particles I generally find it better to fish using a big hookbait over a bed of particles.

Month by Month Table

The table shown above gives some very useful information and confirms my own observations. I do fish for other species but, as some of these are summer species and others are winter species, I do not think these distort the figures too much. The last few weeks of the season are, possibly, the best for chub fishing. The autumn months are also very good. July is easily the best summer month. Despite often reading that the winter months are best for chub my results show that, with the notable exception of the last few weeks of the season, this has not been the case. In fact my results for November, December and January have been poor. June is an inconsistent month. The figures are better than they appear on the table as only half of the month falls in the season. If the chub spawn late results can be very good but this is an inconsistent period on the rivers I fish.

A careful study of the table shows that some big chub can be caught even during the less productive months so it is best not to be too dogmatic. It may be very interesting to compare my results with those of people fishing different rivers. There may be some variations but, in my opinion, results are likely to be consistent in most cases.

Year by Year Table

The table shown above clearly shows the increase in the size of chub in recent years. Just look at the ratio of chub over 5lb to the total in recent years. This does not give the full picture, as I believe there are fewer chub around these days than there were previously, but I will cover this later.

I will now outline a scenario where my database may come in useful. Suppose I did not fish the Avon for a while and no longer had a feel for the river. Somebody wanted a chub fishing holiday on the Avon and did not know when to come or what bait to use. It only takes a few seconds to create a table from my database after filtering the information for the Avon. The table shows the number of 4lb plus chub from the Avon by month and by bait.

Month by Month Bait Table for the Avon

I would suggest that September may be a good month to come down and cheese may make a good first choice bait. Alternatively a visit in March using the maggot feeder may be a good bet. My knowledge of the river tells me that this information would be sound.

OTHER SPECIES
It is inevitable that other species will be caught when chub fishing. If these are of specimen size I am always pleased to catch them. I will briefly cover the species likely to be encountered when chub fishing. For the purposes of this article I will omit species such as dace and grayling as these are usually only encountered when using the float or the feeder.

13lb 5oz barbel on maggot feeder from Hants Avon

CARP, TENCH AND BREAM
Although these species are found in increasing numbers in our rivers I do not like to see them. I regard them as stillwater fish and their spread is a retrograde step. I have caught all of these species to good sizes from the Avon and the Stour on a variety of baits and methods. They seem to be fairly localised at the moment, but are spreading rapidly.

BARBEL
It is not uncommon to catch barbel when chub fishing, as although they feed differently they often occupy the same areas. They are frequently caught when using the maggot feeder and seem to move in behind the chub. A common pattern is to start catching small fish. The chub will then move in, eventually followed by the barbel. I also catch a number of barbel when fishing over a bed of particles. It is often possible to see the fish when using this method so they can be avoided if small. When they are large I often cannot resist catching them.

Barbel are sometimes caught when trotting bread on the Avon but, conversely, never seem to get caught on bread in the Stour. It is not uncommon for barbel to be caught on cheese in the Avon. I remember cheese being a better bait than meat for barbel on the Thames in years gone by and the only two I caught from the Cherwell were taken on cheese. They never seem to take cheese on the Stour. I have no idea why they should react so differently to these baits in different rivers, but I find this interesting. It is common for barbel to be caught when using meat for chub, especially when there is some colour in the water. Garlic sausage seems to be a great favourite in these conditions.

2lb 13oz roach from Dorset Stour on bread flake

ROACH
I have caught several large roach when chub fishing. They are lovely fish and I am always pleased to catch them. Sweetcorn seems to catch a lot of big roach in the summer months. The maggot feeder attracts many big roach in the winter. I have found that most of these are caught when using red maggots.

My biggest roach have all been caught when using very big baits for chub. They have often been caught when using a size 4 hook and the bites have been slam rounds in almost all cases. Sometimes the bait has been half a slice of bread, other times a large ball of cheese. Only a few days ago I caught two good roach on double lobworm hookbaits. They almost took the rod off the rest before I moved. Roach anglers usually use very delicate tackle and small baits. They often get delicate bites when fishing in this way. I am often tempted to target roach using standard chub tactics. The results could be very interesting.

PERCH
Perch have featured more frequently in my catches since using lobworms on a more regular basis. When I first started fishing the Upper Great Ouse I was catching most of my chub on cheese. A few years ago I started using lobworms. I still caught chub but I also started catching some lovely perch. They are very handsome fish and, these days, my second favourite species after the chub. I tend to use lobworms as my main bait on this river these days and it is interesting to see what comes along. I also use lobworms more these days on my local rivers and have found them very good for the chub. I have also caught some good perch from the Stour on them. There are some very big perch on the Avon, which are difficult to find, as there are not many of them. I am hopeful of catching one of these in the not too distant future.

4lb 1oz perch from Great Ouse on lobworm B>

THE FUTURE
The next few years will be very interesting for the chub angler. Since 1990 the average size of the chub in the rivers I fish seems to have increased by at least a pound. I do not think, however, that the biggest fish are any bigger than they were. I have seen some really huge chub in recent years. I can also remember seeing chub just as big many years ago. The existence of these fish in those days was not in doubt. Electro fishing caught them to 9lb 2oz from the Avon and there was one weighing 9lb 2oz caught by a poacher on the Stour in the close season. Both of these fish were caught several years ago. The main difference is in the numbers of chub present.

In 1990 there were vast shoals of 3lb chub with bigger ones mixed in. It was difficult to catch the big ones before the smaller ones got to the bait. These shoals have now gone so it is easier to catch the big chub. The numbers decreased gradually over the years. Many explanations have been given for the increase in chub sizes. These include global warming, cormorants, angler’s baits and crayfish. I do not think many of these arguments stand up. If crayfish were responsible then why do the chub grow so large on the Stour and the Avon where these are not present?

Although high protein baits can increase the size of chub my 7lb 12oz fish was caught from a quiet stretch and had probably never seen a boilie. I have also seen two much larger chub on the same stretch. The number of cormorants seems to have levelled out and I am not too sure about global warming, but I think it could be a factor as it may be responsible for the floods in recent years. Severe flooding has wiped out entire year classes and the chub that remain grow to a far higher average size as there is more food around due to less competition.

In the tidal reaches of my local rivers there are more places for the fry to hide and the flooding is not usually as bad. There do not seem to be any missing year classes in these areas so there are more small chub. The very biggest chub are present in these stretches but are unlikely to get caught very often due to the smaller ones getting to the bait first, the same situation that existed on other parts of the river in 1990. Remember that the very big chub were present in those days but not caught.

The Boom will not continue indefinitely
Most people seem to think that the increase in chub sizes will continue indefinitely. I disagree, at least in my local rivers. Vast numbers of small chub have started to show up in the last two years or so. I believe this is because there have been no really bad floods recently. If these chub survive, as I believe they will, we will eventually get back to how things were in 1990. There will be vast shoals of chub of all sizes. It will be difficult to single out the really big ones, but they will still be there as they were in 1990. By this time pellet and boilie fishing will probably have had its day. The chub have become wary of them on some stretches already, and good catches have been made on natural baits recently on these stretches. If I am right the chub will no longer be an ‘in’ species for the glory hunters but chub fishing will be far better for those of us who simply love fishing for them. There will always be very big chub around so a nice surprise will always be on the cards. I have seen a lot of small chub on visits to rivers outside my local area in recent years so my theory could apply in general.

It is quite possible for the current chub record to be beaten from a number of venues. There are several rivers containing fish capable of doing this. The Thames could be a good bet, as the chub seem to be growing very quickly there. I have a feeling that the next record will come from a big river. If it does not come from the Thames then the Severn or the Wye could be a good bet. These big rivers are always capable of coming up with surprises. I have a strong feeling about the Wye.

Stillwaters should not be ignored. Large gravel pits have a history of producing big chub. They are also present in many small commercial and club lakes. They are often neglected in these waters and, as there are invariably many small silver fish present, they have a good food source, as large chub are often semi-predatory. Predatory fish can grow very quickly in these waters. Just look at the current perch record. The same could happen with the chub record, although I hope the next record comes from a river.