Once in a Lifetime Chub

One day stands out from a couple of seasons ago. I was fishing Throop and after catching a brace of sixes in the morning got fed up with the crowds and moved to a quiet stretch. I had a chub of 7lb 2oz on the bank within five minutes of setting up. Despite several successes I still had come nowhere near to beating the 7lb 12oz chub I caught in February, 2003.

This season, 2008/2009, has not been very kind to me and I have caught very few chub. I have been working full time and have also been very busy with the band I play in. The last time I managed a few chub on was Christmas Eve and did not catch anything after as the weather conditions were very bad and, whenever there was an improvement, something got in the way. I enjoyed myself when I did get out though and was very amused by a cheeky fox that thought she was a dog. She used to come and nudge me to ask for food. As well as eating from my hand she allowed me to stroke her like a dog. I have suffered with a couple of nasty viruses this winter and have been too busy to go at other times.

The tame fox

Something had to change and, as I will be receiving an occupational pension very soon, it will not be necessary to work full time. I managed to talk my boss into changing my hours from 1st February and was very excited at the prospect of being able to get out in the evenings as much as possible.

It was Sod’s Law: something had to go wrong

I caught a very nasty virus and would not have been able to go to work or fish even if we hadn’t been snowed in. The snow had all gone by the end of the first week in February and I went back to work the following Monday. I was unable to fish, however, as the snow had been replaced by heavy rain and both of my local rivers, the Hampshire Avon and the Dorset Stour, were over the fields. Lovely, especially as it often takes a while for the effects of snow water to wear off.

By the time the third week in February came around the Hampshire Avon was still in the fields but the Dorset Stour was fishable. I had band commitments on Wednesday and Saturday but fished all other evenings after work on the lower Dorset Stour. I tried everything I knew but had no bites. I was fishing with Bill Neal most of the time and he couldn’t catch anything either. Obviously the snow water was still having an effect as Bill is the best chub angler I know.

The fourth week started in the same vein, with Bill and I both blanking on Monday evening and again on Tuesday evening. I had been looking at the forum posting from Andrew Duffield about his forthcoming weekend on the Hampshire Avon so had been keeping my eye on the river on my way to and from work. The posting Nigel Connor made about Britford interested me as fish had been coming out from there. I fish lower down the river but it seemed to be dropping well so I decided to have a change and fish the Hampshire Avon on Wednesday evening 25th February.

I fished a slack with a crease on the outside and had no bites on cheese or bread flake. I then tried small pieces of crust, as this often works when the fishing is hard. I started to get bites on the crust. They were only tentative plucks but I managed to connect with two of them. I was delighted with a lovely brace of chub weighing 6lb 1oz and 5lb 11oz. Suddenly the enthusiasm was back. It’s funny what a difference a couple of decent fish makes.

Repeat a feat

I considered returning to the Hampshire Avon the next evening but I wondered if I could repeat a feat I achieved back in 1996, when I had a six one day from the Hampshire Avon followed by one from the Dorset Stour the next day. So on Thursday evening 26th February I returned to the lower Dorset Stour. I decided to fish a different stretch though, as I did not fancy more blanks on the other stretch. I tried a swim I used to fish in years gone by.

The chub did not seem to want bread; I tried flake and crust, so I decided to sit it out on cheese paste. I used one of the recipes I wrote about in the On The Chub Trail articles. Nothing happened until dark then I started to get a few bites. I connected with one of the bites and I was delighted when a big chub came over the net. The scales went round to 6lb 4oz and I was very happy – sixes on successive evenings from different rivers after all those blanks. I stayed on for a while but had no more bites.

6lb 4oz chub

After all of the bites and catching the 6lb 4oz chub I decided to stick with the same swim so I returned in the evening of Friday 27th February. It was a repeat performance with no bites coming before dark so cheese paste after dark it was. The bites were more frequent and bolder than the previous evening and I caught three chub weighing 5lb 0oz, 4lb 14oz and 4lb 7oz before I went home.

Then it all came right

I wondered if another evening in the same swim may be too much and I contemplated going back to the Hampshire Avon. I had to go out in the morning and took the dog with me. On the way back I took her for a walk along the river on the stretch I had been fishing for the last two evenings. There was nobody there, which almost made my mind up. This is a fabulous looking stretch and I have always caught plenty of chub there, although prior to the 6lb 4oz fish on Thursday, the only six I had caught there previously was one of 6lb 3oz several years ago. This is a mystery to me as the stretch looks so good. Perhaps that is why it is not fished much. I was having a chat with a friend in the afternoon and mentioned to him that, although I have caught far more sixes on cheese than any other bait, I have never caught a seven on cheese.

After much deliberation I decided to return to the swim for a final session. So, on the evening of Saturday 28th February I returned to the stretch that I had been fishing for the last two evenings. I set up and decided that, as I had had all of my bites after dark, I would spend a while in a nearby swim. I also took the decision to only fish with cheese paste as all of my bites had been on this bait. I caught a chub of 5lb 10oz almost immediately but did not have any more bites. I moved back into the swim I had been fishing and cast my cheese paste out. I sat back and waited for darkness to fall, when I expected to get bites. Today was different and the tip slammed round after only a couple of minutes. The fish bumped around under the rod top and it felt like a four.

Suddenly the fish lunged downstream and almost wrenched the rod from my hand. As I played it back I caught a glimpse of the fish and it looked much bigger that the 6lb 4oz chub.

It tried to get under some tree roots at my feet and must have knocked itself (apparent on the photos on one side). It then bored off upstream. I managed to stop the fish and it swirled on the surface. I remember thinking it looked like a cod. As the fish was drawn towards the net I could see that it was a good seven. When I tried to pull the net out I was shocked at the weight. I was shaking when I laid the net on the grass and decided to measure the chub before weighing. The length was just over twenty four inches to the fork in the tail and the girth was seventeen and a quarter inches. I had a job holding the scales steady due to shaking so much but managed to weigh the chub. I then took a couple of photos of it.

8lb 8oz of lower Dorset Stour chub

I packed up then as I couldn’t fish on as I was shaking. I then phoned Bill Neal to come out and verify the fish. By the time Bill got there it was dark and the fish looked enormous when I took the sack out of the water. They always look bigger after dark. Bill verified the weight at 8lb 8oz and then took a few photos for me. The irony is that I still haven’t caught a seven on cheese, but an eight is even better. What a fish, truly a ‘once in a lifetime fish’. I will not try for the fish again as I cannot see the point in catching the same fish several times and I do not want to draw attention to where I was fishing as it is nice and quiet there. I have plenty of other stretches to try before the end of the season and I must fish the Avon again a few times as I would love to catch an Avon seven one day.

A real lump at 8lb 8oz

And the other side of the fish (see the damage where it tried for the tree roots)