As the temperature begins to drop in earnest and more rain falls, it’s time to start concentrating on the rivers – and big chub will be at the top of many specimen anglers’ hit list this winter.
From large venues like the Trent and Severn, to more intimate waterways like the Stour and Wharf, there are specimens to be caught right across the country. Total Coarse Fishing spoke to experts to give you the best chance of hooking into you new PB this winter.
A brace of winter river Blackwater chub for Alan.
Alan Stagg
PB chub 8lb 5oz, River Loddon.
One of the country’s top specimen anglers and Total Coarse Fishing regular, Gardner Tackle-backed Alan is one of a small band of anglers to have caught a chub of over 8lb in weight. Here are some of his top chubbing tips.
• When rivers levels are low and clear a small cage feeder packed with liquidised bread and a large piece of flake for hookbait can take some beating.
• Flavours play a major role in my winter chub fishing. Cheese flavours are my favourite and a quick squirt of your chosen flavour added to your feed the evening before can work wonders. Last winter I had good success using Sonubaits Hemp N Cheesy Garlic flavour.
• When using a static approach hoping for one bite from a big fish the mag-aligner rig incorporating an Enterprise mag-aligner grub slid over the hook shank takes some beating. This is often a rig that will fool the wary big fish and was the downfall of my PB at 8lb 5oz.
• Keep gear to a minimum and rove the river. In cold conditions fish will often be tightly shoaled leaving most swims devoid of fish. Keep on the move for the best results.
• When time is at a premium chub are the ideal short session fish to target. Making the extra effort to get out on the bank when a few hours become available will often lead to success.
Kenny's new PB for the Hampshire Avon at 6lb 13oz
Kenny Parsons
PB chub 7lb 12oz, Dorset Stour
Fishing guide Kenny Parsons spends the majority of his fishing time targeting the Dorset Stour and the Bristol Avon for specimen barbel and chub.
To prove he knows his stuff, on his latest session fishing the Hampshire Avon he banked this new river personal best at 6lb 13oz. the big chevin fell for delicate tactics of double maggot float fished under an Avon float with a size 20 hook to a 2.5lb hooklink.
• Here’s Kenny’s tips for getting amongst the big fish over the winter.
• Chub love snags and cover over their heads. Target these areas but try not to fish too close as when you get that bite they will be in there like a flash.
• I once listened to someone who said ‘learn to be quite when chub fishing and when you have accomplished this learn to be quieter still’ – big chub are so easy to spook.
• In winter you can get away with using lighter hooklinks as there shouldn't be so much weed in the river. This will help you fool wary specimens, but be careful that there are no snags for the fish to get into.
• When winter float fishing for chub you need to feed on and often (ideally every trot down), otherwise the fish will drift away. You need to get the chub competing for food between, once you've got them doing that then you could be in for a real ‘red letter’ day.
• I’m a big fan of maggot for chub. When float fishing I feed maggots into the swim every 30 seconds for about 20 minutes before casting out. You will need to judge where the chub are and sometimes this means feeding way upstream with a catapult so that the bait drifts down to the chub.
• I use Nisa inline swim feeders with very short hooklinks of about 3-4lb. It a very effect rig for hooking fish and with regular casts, every 10 minutes or so, at the start of the session you can get the chub really feeding well.
• Chub love clear water in a river to feed, even if it's really cold they will still oblige. Fishing just after a flood when the river is fining down is perfect., but floodwater fishing for chub is difficult and best avoided.
To learn more about Kenny’s guiding services, click here.
Scroll down to see a video of Kenny’s recent 6lb 13oz chub.
