How to use a chubber float for fishing shallow and fast rivers or streams

The short, fat and dumpy chubber float is perfect for fishing shallow and fast river glides or trotting on streams. It’s capable of carrying a lot of shot, due to the size and buoyancy of the float. This is perfect because fast, shallow swims need a lot of lead down the line to ensure that the bait is pushed down to the bottom right where the fish are.

A typical chubber rig is simple to tie, and here’s how…

A Your mainline ought to be a floating one. Drennan Floatfish is perfect. Choose a breaking strain that matches the fish that you are likely to catch. A 3lb line will be adequate for most situations, but you may need to step up to 5 or even 6lb if there are lots of big barbel present.

B The chubber float needs to be attached to the mainline using three rubbers – one just under the sight tip, one in the middle and one at the base of the float.

C There are two ways to shot a chubber float – either use a string of large shot (BBs, AAs or even SSGs) placed around 1ft from the hook, or alternatively use an olivette. This creates a much smaller and neater bulk of weight.

D Because chubbers should be fished in fast water, the fish don’t have that much time to check out the hooklength, so this sort of rig can be fished straight through to your hook. You still need to match the hook size to the size of the bait you are using.