I was looking for a rod that would specifically be suited to chubfishing, predominantly in the winter and probably 80% biased towardsquiver tip fishing. This ideally meant an Avon of some type toenable a stick or loafer type presentation when conditionssuited.
I already have the Diawa Barbel Specialist which is an Avon typerod suited beautifully to my type of barbel fishing, but overpoweringwhen chub are the chosen quarry.
I wanted a rod that I could travel lightly with along longstretches of the small Staffordshire rivers such as the Sow, Trent,Blythe and even the Dove. I also wanted to be able to switch betweenfloat and tip without carrying two rods with me.
Most of my chub fishing is done roving style, using bread as themain line of attack, feeding mashed bread with flake on the hook,usually a size 6 or 8 straight through to 5lb line. The rivers I fishare usually meandering and medium to slow flowing, crystal clear witha head of chub averaging 3lbs but up to 6lbs on certainstretches.
I first saw the rod advertised in a magazine and it immediatelycaught my attention with its 0.75lb test-curve rating and progressiveaction. It fell under the ‘new’ Fox specialist range, developed bytheir well known consultants.
A quick visit to www.foxint.com and I was pleasantly surprised tosee a RRP of under £ 120 – which meant, realistically, I shouldbe able to pick one up for under ‘a ton’ mail order.
A visit to my local tackle shop enabled me to set the rod up andget the feel of it and I knew straight away that I just had to haveone before my winter campaign started. I followed my usual trait ofasking the owner ‘how much it really was’ only to find he could knockme a tenner off at the most. But I had to have one!
The rod comes complete as a 12 ft, two piece Avon, or two piecequiver, finished in typical fox dark green, almost black, colour.Rings are Fuji right through on all sections and the butt is finishedwith a very nice Fuji NPS reel seat and full cork handle. This,incidentally, was an important factor, as my other ‘tip’ rod hassliding rings which I ‘tape’ up to stop reel slippage.
Having the reel drop off when striking into a big chub, which maybe the ‘only’ bite of a cold winter day, is not amusing.
The quiver comes with three push-in tips rated at 1oz, 1.5oz and2oz.
Under normal conditions, the bites are fairly typical with aninitial knock followed by a progressive pull round of the tip as thechub moves downstream. The 1oz glass tip being especially useful whenthe chub are in that funny mood when they are just ‘mouthing’ thebait or giving the tiniest of indications on the tip. I haveexperienced this many times when the temperature is below zero andthe fish give the slightest movement on the tip. A strike oftenresults in a surprise ‘hooping over’ of the rod as connection is madewith the fish. The other time I have found this scenario to occur isafter a quick flood when the fish have gorged on naturals, as opposedto a lengthy period of high coloured water when they feed confidentlyas the river runs off and the colour drops out.
|
|
| |
This rod will also be ideally suited to stillwater bream fishingwith a small feeder or straight bomb.
After picking the rod up on a Friday I was itching to use it, butalas, work meant that I would be unable to go until probably theweekend after, weather permitting.
I did however manage to sneak in an hour and a half on my localriver Sow on Wednesday just after work as dusk descended. I knew thatwith the short time available I would only be able to fish perhapstwo or three pegs. With this in mind I chose a ‘double bend’ thatwould enable me to feed three ‘holes’ in close proximity with somemashed bread.
The river was running quite clear and normal level, so I opted for5lb maxima through to a longish (60cm) 4lb flouro bottom with a fixed1/8 oz paternoster.
Hook would be a size 6 Kamasan Specialist and bait would be alarge piece of Warburtons folded over the shank with the hookpointwell exposed.
First cast revealed that the current was just moving the lead fromthe run I wanted to follow. Normally I like to just hold bottom andby slightly raising the rod tip, almost inch the set up into theposition I expect the chub to be in. To counteract this I added asingle AAA shot to the paternoster link and re cast. As I was settingthe rod and admiring the delicacy of the fine glass tip it justpulled around to 90 degrees. A spirited fight then took place intypical dogged style before a fine chub of just under 4lb slid overthe waiting net. Great, I thought, rod performed admirably and I wasreally able to feel the weight of the fish rather than what I hadbecome accustomed to when the local river Dove chub intercepted mybarbel bait and then attempted to scream off against 12lb line and1.5lb TC rod.
However, with the light almost gone, I had time to fish the secondbend just 30 metres or so further down the river, maybe get a fishand still be home in time for the family visit.
I put another half slice of stale rubbed bread into the peg as Isettled and positioned my rod-rest. First cast was a little short,but I left it in place rather than re-cast and possibly causedisturbance. The low and dropping light level would, in myexperience, ensure that the fish would start to move out from theirundercut banks and overhanging bushes.
However, after ten minutes and no signs, I decided to re-bait andtry to get ‘right into the hole’. A perfect cast left me eager withanticipation as the light had completely gone. Due to the newness ofthe rod I had forgotten to fit an Isotope so it was necessary toraise the tip slightly to achieve a silhouette against theskyline.
I checked my watch again, consciously working out that it was twominutes to break down tackle, four minutes to get to the car, and afast drive home…..I could maybe stay another fiveminutes…….Just then the tip ‘knocked’ and then froze, motionlessbut slightly pulled round from where it was. I sat fixated and urgingit to pull round, hand hovering over the rod. For what seemed an agenothing happened, and then, suddenly, two sharp taps and anunmissable pull saw me strike into a solid feeling fish. Again, asuperb fight and then, as is so common with chub, everything wentsolid as the fish snagged me in the near-side sedges. I pulled ashard as possible, hoping to dislodge the fish, which I could hearsplashing on the surface.
Unfortunately, a large hawthorn lay between us. After five minutesof stalemate, I let the line go slack and then felt the line, hopingto feel it tighten as the fish moved out of its snag. After a minuteor so I was about to tighten up and walk around to the other side ofthe bush when the line slowly drew tight again and the fish was clearof the snag. Putting maximum pressure on, I was surprised at how thefish turned so easily, maybe it thought it was free. But it was soonunder control and in the net. Weighing it quickly it went to 4lb 9ozand was in perfect condition. An almost guaranteed 5-pounder come theback end.
Driving home, I felt well pleased that I had decided on a quicktrip and even more so that I had purchased the rod. It would be apleasure to use through the coming months.
I would even go so far as to say I am praying for those lovelycold frosty mornings and damp evenings to descend uponus………
Next week – ‘The Fox Avon Quiver put through its paces on thefloat’
