Chub Fishing - Two PB's in one day

Chub Fishing - Two PB's in one day

It was a cold Novembers morning, I was woke up by a ring on the door bell from my close friend jay, he was wondering if I fancied a session on our local small stream holding plenty of chub. I replied with a confident YES, I packed a small rucksack holding only essential items as we would be roving all day, I quickly grabbed my home made cheese paste from the freezer, which was made from pastry and a variety of cheeses, it smelt really potent, we strapped or rods and nets to our bikes and set off, it was about a 30 minute bike ride to the stream, on the way we decide to stop at a stretch of the river Blackwater, as it was on the way, we say it was running through quite fast and it was up and gravy coloured, we had a quick dabble in a few likely swims to only receive a few knocks on the tip, we weren't expecting much as it is known to be quite slow at times with not many chub in there.

We carried on our trek, when we arrived at the stream it looked spot on nicely coloured not running to fast, we had a look at a few lovely looking areas before setting up,when we finally set up we set of to our chosen swims, I chose a nice over hanging willow to cast under, after 5 Min's I revived several knocks before a confident take, I lifted the rod to feel a jolty fight it took me up and down stream, after a short but powerful fight a high 1lb chub hit my net, even though it wasn't huge it was perfect with no markings at all just like many of them in there, we ventured on trying a few more swims with only a few knocks to say the least, as we walked on to mother stretch we discusses some of the Brutes that this stream holds, my good friend Fred has had them to 4lb 12 and we have seen them to over 5lb, but the thing was there was so many smaller ones to get through, I showed jay a likely looking area, he had a cast under a old dead tree in about 2 ft of water, it looked spot on, jay cast with some of my homemade cheese paste and received a few knocks within minutes followed by a healthy take, he hit it and didn't connect with anything he has another go and the same thing happened 4 times, I them said to him as he was getting the bite, sit on your hands until the tip has properly whacked round, he done this and sure enough he connected with it, we were both amazed at the power of this chub as it charged downstream using the flow on its side, he then teased it into the net and he was made up with his new personal best chub of 2lb 12oz a few congratulations were made before roving a but further on.

We made our way to a spot I knew held chub, intact the exact spot Fred ha the big gun from, we both chose our spots, almost  simultaneously we both received bites within 30 seconds I had a nice sized chub on whereas jays fish didn't connect, he came over told help do the honours suddenly the fish charged off,  we caught a glimpse of its golden flanks, and estimated it to be a 2lb fish, the hooked pulled straight after, even though it wasn't a big chub it still would have been more than welcome, I had another chub from the same swim shortly after around 1lb, we moved on to a few more swims and had some lovely perfection in miniature chub, the light was fading around 4.30 so we got on the bikes and headed home..... On the way back we discussed the session, we were happy with the results, especially jays new PB chub which was the main reason of the session after all, we went passed another spot on the blackwater on the way home were I had had previous good results, I knew for a fact it was hard going along there as I had fished it before and caught 6 chub in 15 sessions on there, I had the deepest feeling that it would produce a chub that night with the conditions as they were.

we biked along the dark and weiry bank. as we arrived in a very overgrown swim, with a large willow which had fell down the the storm I said to jay this is the spot I can feel a fish coming from, he was kind enough to let me have a go there after all the effort I had put in that season whilst he watched and kept me company, it was coming up to 6 pm when I finally cast out my 10 gram feeder with liquidised bread and a 15" 5lb hook length with a size 12 Korum specialist micro barbed hook, I personally have a lot of faith in this hook with it being my favourite chub hook on the market, I also landed a 11lb barbel on these hooks from a Thames tributary back in October I used a lump of cheese paste wrapped on the hook and cast under some floating debris which proved a challenge in the pitch black, u got the cat spot on and it drifted under the debris, after 10 minutes I received some very minuscule taps I assumed this was small fish, after 20 mins we say the getting a bit larger then finally after a 30 minute wait the rod tip let out several taps to lead to a healthy bend I lifted the rod and I felt a solid lump on the end it charged off down stream like an angry bull, jay ran for the net as it played we knew would be a decent chub as average was a high 3 or a low 4, my previous personal bet was 5lb 1oz from the same river, after a very powerful scrapy fight the chevin graced my net, I thought it would be a 4 but as jay lifted the net he said it was huge definitely a 5 as he had never seen a chub if such size, we placed it carefully on the mat and unhooked it, I had a feeling deep down it could be a personal best but I estimated a high 4lber whereas jay said it was a mid 5, I revived it for a few moments whilst jay sorted the scales and the camera, I lifted it again onto the mat jay done the honers weighing it, as he lifted a huge smile grew upon his face I knew this could mean one thing, my heart started to race and I was almost shaking, he said 5lb 2oz, I was absolutely made up with the stunning chub a new PB aswell, jay took some wonderful trophy shots and we watched the beast swim back into the abyss, a few congratulations and thank you's were made before started to head of home, we were both very cold and wet on the way back, but did we care after that amazing moment? the answer would be no we didn't, in fact it was one the best moments in my 3 years angling, and it was great to share it with such company. I know I will be back down the river as soon as I can.....

George Basham age 17

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