Chub Fishing - First Success Vlog

Chub fishing - First session success

I awoke on a misty Saturday morning at around 7am, I made my way to the freezer to get some cheese paste I prepared the night before and a nice loaf of bread just incase it was needed, cheesepaste was going to be my main approach with some liquidized bread which I also had prepared, I soon packed my gear into my dads car and off we went to my local river, this river is a very underfished and has potential of some large chub. I was very excited about this session as it would be my first session on this river for my winter campain for a 5lber, my dad dropped me off at a old humpback bridge were i would start my roving session in hope to get used to the river and find a few good swims which i would like to target also catching would be a bonus.

I set my rod up and got my bait ready and started to search for a likely swim just downstream from the bridge, as I walked I found a really nice looking swim which was deep and had steep banks, it also had a superb looking overhanging tree. I decided to have a go in this swim and see if there was any fish holding up in the deep spot, i cast my rod out with some cheesepaste and a 15gram feeder as the river was quite high and fast from some recent floods, the feeder was filled with liquidised bread just lightly pushed in but enough to get it to the bottom without all pouring out, i cast the bait into the middle of the river were i thourght would be a good place to start as i didnt know were any under water snags were, within 10 minutes or so of waiting enjoying the scenery, my quiver had a few taps follewed by a healthy wrap around I struck into the fish and by the fight i realised it was only a 2lbish chub, unluckily it made one lunge and the hook had pulled, i wasnt to upset because i knew i had hooked my first chub from this particular river, i cast the rod back out and another 10 minutes or so later i was shocked by a strong take out of the blue, i picked the rod up and immediately knew i was into a good chub, i was shaking when i was playing this fish as it darted to every snag in the swim and went into the undercut banks, i finally netted the fish i saw it was a pb chub by far as my previous best was 3lb. It tipped the scales around to 4lb on the dot and i was absolutely made up with this old warrior of a chevin.

After the commotion in the swim after catching that chub i decide to have another walk down stream to rest the swim, i walked for a good 2hrs and found some lovely looking swims whilst having the odd cast without sucess here and there i found a few nice swims to target for the future, i then went back to the previous swim were i had the 4lb chub, i fished it for half hour or so wen I got some shy bites and i was striking into nothing after another 15mins the bites slowed down and eventually stopped completely.

Out of the corner of my eye i noticed another angler fishing a few swims down from me, how i didnt notice him earlier was a mystery, i went to have a chat and we did exactly that for a good hour or so. he told me of a swim right next to the old humpback bridge which fishes very well wen the river is up high like it was on the day, i took a wonder down there right near the end of the session i have to admit it did look really chubby, i cast my rod with the cheese paste and the bread in the feeder onto a nice spot under a far margin dead tree, i admitidly wasnt expecting a bite and i was concerntrating on my camera looking at the trophy shots of my new pb chub, then suddenly i saw my rod tip bending like a angry bull was attached to the end, i immediatlly grabbed the rod and suddenly a strength that i have never felt on a quiver rod before suprised me and this fish tore downstream i didnt dare to stop it, after a while i gained the upper had and guided this fish towards my net, as soon as it hit the surface it was of again and it went straight underneath the bridge again i gained the upper hand and after a bullish fight she was in the net, i was thrilled to see what was in net and i saw a fish bigger than my last one, i was utterly gob smacked i lifted this fish onto the mat and i knew i had yet another pb staring up at me.

I weighed the fish and it went 5lb on the button, i was shaking like a leaf and i thourght to myself this what fishing is all about, i took some shots of the beast and then slipped her back to where she belongs.

After this event I went and told the angler i had spoken to earlier that day about the good news and to thank him for the advice on the swim, he was still blanking but he was staying untill late at night so he was very confident, anyway i left him in peace and went to wait in the carpark, I stared over at the water from the top of the bridge and I knew that I would be back here again because deep down I know there is bigger to be caught and more swims for me to try out.

George Basham