Wintle’s World of Angling

Summer Chub on the Float

One of the most effective and pleasant methods of catching decent sized chub during the summer months is floatfishing using hemp and caster. There are many rivers in the UK where this method will work, and my local river the Dorset Stour is no exception. This method was incredibly effective during the late eighties and early nineties but as the chub population dropped in numbers and increased in size it lost some of its effect. As the chub got much fewer in number the former shoals of ten to fifteen fish in the three to four pound bracket were replaced by odd fish of five pounds plus. The effectiveness of the method that I’m going to describe owes some of its success to feeding a shoal of chub in such a way that the fish are competing for the bait. Over the last couple of seasons there has been a slow but steady comeback of the shoal chub from two to four pounds. Of course the monsters are still present but less likely to fall for these tactics.

Trotting for summer chub

Some decent catches last season have encouraged me to give it a try this season. I’d like to take you through an actual session on the lower reaches of the Stour to see how it works. To protect the swim I am going to be vague about the fishery though the tactics are real enough.

So it was a warm, still June morning when I made my way to a swim that had shown promise last season. There is some high cloud, enough to prevent it getting too hot. At this point the river is about twenty-five to thirty yards wide, with the river flowing from right to left. Along the far side there are weed beds extending about ten yards out, and at the head of the swim there are also extensive beds of streamer weed that stop just upstream of my fishing position. The depth is a fairly level five feet but this quickly shallows as the current quickens and funnels out of the swim just fifteen yards downstream. Beyond this there are shallows with just six to eight inches of water. As the water comes off the streamer weed there are lots of swirls and crosscurrents. I approach the bank quietly, taking advantage of the tall reeds in front of me. Before tackling up I stand and watch for five minutes, looking for signs of fish. Down on the shallows some big fish are furrowing around, dorsals out of the water. Could be barbel cleaning themselves, if so I’ll leave them well alone. Apart from one or two dimples there are no other signs of fish.

Start with a stick float

Looking at the complex currents I decide that a stick float, that allows me to mend the line by lifting it clear of the water, will give me the best control. I tackle up a standard match rod and fixed spool reel, spraying line floatant on the spool before threading it through the rings. A dome top stick float taking five no. 4 shot is tackled up with a size 16 Drennan carbon chub hook tied to 0.14 Ignesti Special line (bs about 4lbs). Main line is Daiwa Harrier 4lbs. These early season chub should not be especially hook or line shy and I will need to bully the fish out of the weed. It will be a different story in two months time.

Fishing a stick on the drop

I set the float at about four feet deep. A foot from the hook I put a number ten shot, then at six inch intervals above that three no. 8 shot, then at further six inch intervals bunched no. 8 shot in pairs. Right under the float I put the remainder of the shot required to cock the float. This arrangement is geared at achieving a slow fall of the bait. It is not especially easy to cast but with very little wind and no need to cast more than fifteen yards, it should be OK. The crafty bit when casting is to slightly feather the cast onto the water by gently braking the line as it leaves the spool so that the float and shotted line below land in a line rather than a heap. This does need practice. Brake the line too much and the float is abruptly halted.

The Lower Stour

Time to sort out the bait. First a confession. To do a swim like this justice you really need three or four pints of caster plus the same of hemp. I’ve brought two pints of old casters that have been in my bait fridge at least a week plus the same of hemp. But it’s my intention to keep the session short – say two hours or so, and in this way I can keep the feed rate high enough to get some chub (I hope). I start the session catapulting a big pouchful mixed 50/50 of casters and hemp straight in front of me about fifteen yards out. I feed every cast, maintaining this feed rate throughout the session.

The chub arrive

It doesn’t take long to start getting some bites, only small dace though. After twenty minutes of feeding the first signs of chub appear with bow waves each time I feed. Then a bite with a difference. The float disappears down a hole and a firm strike meets solid resistance. A short fight and a chub of about two pounds is in the net. In excellent condition, it is a clean female fish that is well recovered from spawning. I slip it back, feed again and cast. The next chub is not long in appearing, again about two pounds.

And get caught

For the next hour the chub continue to bite, slowly increasing in size to four pounds, until I’ve had a total of seven chub, plus twice as many dace up to about five ounces. By this time I have just about used up the first pint of casters, and probably without realising it cut down my feed rate. The result is that my catch rate has dropped off. The breeze has also picked up; it is not too strong but it is affecting my presentation by making it more difficult to mend the line. Furthermore, with two or three chub visibly feeding in the swim I reckon it’s time for a change in bait presentation to a slower sinking bait. Though I have already altered my stick float set-up by altering depth both up and down and changing the shotting pattern to alter the sinking rate I’m going to change to a waggler.

When the fish get crafty, switch to a waggler

The waggler rig consists of a simple straight peacock float about seven inches long, locked on with two AAA shot. Down the line I have just two no. 10 shot. The float is set three feet deep. As the chub have become more finicky I scale down the hook link to 0.10mm Ignesti Special, retaining the size 18 Drennan Carbon Chub hook.

I open the second pint of casters. These are even older than the other pint and distinctly whiffy. I step up the feed, and it is not long before chub number eight is in the net. By altering the depth I eventually snare another couple of chub before finally running out of bait after two and a quarter hours of fishing. But by now the fish are a distinctly tough proposition, and I’ve had enough fish to be more than pleased with how the session went.

This has been summer chub fishing at its best. Hard fighting fish in good condition requiring skilful and versatile float fishing skills, and best of all a morning out on a beautiful length of river. For once I landed every fish hooked, and didn’t get too many tangles. Fishing Magic.

Simple lessons

The lessons learned are simple. As ever, find the fish. Don’t scare them. Get the feeding right. For chub this means a good pouchful at least every cast. Chub are greedy and simply won’t turn on unless there is plenty of bait going in. Then they start dashing around and become catchable.

Get the tackle right; there is room for finesse tempered with strong enough gear to handle them. Try to keep the upper hand when playing them, and watch for that nearside dash as you reach for the landing net. Finally, keep altering the presentation so the fall rate of the bait is varied – use little shot no. 10s and 8s. This way the chub find it difficult to wise up to a particular presentation. Don’t be afraid to switch between a stick float and waggler, even try laying on if the current permits it.

There is a lesson for me too; talking to one of the bailiffs on the way back to the car, I find out that the fish on the shallows are barbel taking spawning minnows. Happy chubbing!

NEXT WEEK: ‘An Oxford Education’