Town centre chub action
You don’t have to venture far from civilisation for picturesque fishing, as this chub proves.
The upper Great Ouse in Buckingham town centre was the venue that produced this scale-perfect 5lb 3oz fish for Adam Perna.
The 27-year-old tiler from nearby Bicester in Oxfordshire trotted maggots at dusk.
He said: “It wasn’t the biggest chub in the world at 5lb 3oz, but it was taken right in the town centre, in the park, and my mate managed to get a great photo.
“It just shows what sort of fishing there is on your doorstep, you don’t have to walk miles into the countryside to get decent chub.”
15 year wait for pb chub
A 15-year quest to break his chub personal best came to a triumphant conclusion for Dennis Hayes when he banked this 6lb 3oz specimen from the River Waveney.
With warm temperatures and a tinge of colour in the water he was confident of enjoying a memorable session, and things started well with a brace of fish to 4lb 15oz coming to the net early on.
The Suffolk-based rod had never landed a 5lb-plus specimen despite countless attempts, but he finally broke his duck when the chub fell for a piece of hair-rigged meat.
Cheesepaste fools 8lb 12oz River Lea chub
ONE of the biggest chub of the season has been caught by Jake Davoile in the form of this 8lb 12oz specimen during only his second session on the River Lea.
In a trip the previous week, the Coventry-based fishery officer managed to land six fish to 6lb 10oz from the Hertfordshire waterway using cheesepaste and roving tactics.
He then returned to the venue a few days later and concentrated on the areas in which he had had bites from on his first session.
“I baited and fished several swims taking four fish to just over 4lb,” said the 29-year-old. “On dark I headed to the swim where I’d caught the 6lb 10oz chub from.
“After 30 minutes of touch legering I felt a slight pull on my line. I struck into the bite and was met with incredible power as the fish did its best to find sanctuary among the various snags. I knew it was a very good fish but I held my own and played it very hard to keep it away from the hazards.
“Eventually it popped up in the margins and dropped in the net on the first time of asking. I literally went to bits when I turned on my headtorch and got a proper look at what I’d caught.”
The fish, which beat his previous best for the species of 7lb 4oz, was caught with a piece of homemade cheesepaste moulded round a size 4 hook attached to 5lb Maxima mainline.
“I think the catch is going to take some time to properly sink in. I just keep saying 8lb 12oz in my head and grinning like a Cheshire cat,” he added.
PB chub and 12lb 4oz barbel in same session
John Turner chalked up a classic autumn duo with a PB chub and a season’s best barbel after monitoring receding flood water.
The Tamworth, Staffordshire, rod had the pair within an hour of each other on Mercia AC-owned stretch of the River Anker, using halibut pellets as bait. The chub went 5lb 8oz and the barbel pulled the scales round to 12lb 4oz.
John (46) said “I’d been watching the river all week — it had fallen nicely and still had a bit of colour in it. The barbel put up a fantastic fight, taking 20yds of line on its first run”
Simple boilie tactics produce 7lb 11oz chub
Darren Worton used nothing more complicated than a single boilie to tempt a stunning 7lb 11oz specimen from the Dorset Stour.
The Bournemouth-based rod banked the early autumn lump after a friend in a local tackle shop gave him some new baits to try. Shortly afterwards the 47-year-old landed the new personal best from a Christchurch AC-run stretch of the river.
He told AT: “My mate gave me a handful of Sticky Baits’ Vortex boilies to try. I rigged one up, lowered it in, and sat back. Half an hour later the rod pulled round and I thought I’d hooked a barbel, such was its power. It was an absolutely brilliant result.”
PB chub on bread crust
Dan Sales caught his first chub over 7lb in the form of this 7lb 4oz fish from the River Lea.
The 28-year-old Herts-based builder had spotted a few fish rising for chunks of bread on the surface during a previous carping session.
Returning the next day armed with lighter tackle, he spent an hour introducing free offerings before hooking his prize just before dark on a large piece of bread crust impaled on a size 3 ESP hook.
“There were around nine or 10 chub feeding, a couple of which must have been nudging 8lb!” said Dan.
Prebaiting scores for 8lb 4oz chub
A heavy prebaiting campaign helped Carl Welch tempt this immaculate 8lb 4oz chub from a stretch of the Lower Thames.
The Middlesex-based rod introduced a large batch of hemp, boilies and pellets close to a bush over a three day period and shortly after first wetting a line he received the all-important take.
Within seconds of setting the hook, the fish had bolted off the gravel patch towards the far bank snags and Carl was forced to pile on the pressure to bring it back into open water.
“I was convinced I’d hook a barbel to start with as the fish had so much power and when I finally banked it I was gobsmacked. I consider myself very lucky to land such a specimen in the opening stages of the season,” he explained.
An Aqua Dynaminx boilie presented alongside a PVA bag of crushed up freebies proved too tempting for the big chub, with 10lb mainline and a size 8 Korda Kaptor Kurv Shank making sure the hair raising battle ended in success.
500 mile trip results in pb 6lb 14oz chub
Gary Knowles was rewarded for making the 500 mile roundtrip from his North West home to the Dorset Stour with the capture of this personal best 6lb 14oz chub.
Fishing a day-ticket stretch of the southern waterway, the Warrington-based all-rounder arrived to be met with flash floods and high, coloured water.
He said: “All the local advice was to stick with the maggot feeder, but after a few hours my gut instinct was to get back into my comfort zone and quivertip a large piece of smelly cheesepaste. The result was a new pb of 6lb 14oz just on dusk.”
8lb 6oz chub falls to mag-aligner rig
Experienced all-rounder Simon Lavin capped off a fine season – during which he caught a new British best bream of 20lb 2oz – with a new chub pb of 8lb 6oz from a club-owned stretch of ‘a Thames tributary’.
The Sunbury -based rod used a mag aligner rig to introduce a mixture of particles and maggots via PVA bags to his chosen swim, and landed the fish during an overnight session with the help of 10lb Berkley Big Game mainline, a 12in Korda Supernatural hooklink and a size 12 hook.
Huge 7lb 4oz River Wye chub landed
The River Wye has produced one of its biggest ever chub in the form of this 7lb 4oz cracker to Billy Burnell.
Targeting a section of the waterway in Hereford, the specialist from Kidlington in Oxfordshire used a simple maggot feeder rig to comfortably beat his previous personal best of 6lb 2oz.
The fish was beaten with the help of 10lb mainline tied direct to a size 18 hook, and was the highlight of a week-long holiday to the famous waterway, during which Billy took a number of big chub and barbel.
“The fish here fight so much harder than the chub on my local River Cherwell and I really thought my big one was a barbel right up until I got it to the net,” said Billy.
'Wag and mag' fools 50lb Wye chub haul
A coaching session on the River Wye with a renowned expert proved more than worthwhile for Shaun Court after he put together this 50lb haul of chub in a few hours sport.
The Bristol-based rod decided to reserve a day on the waterway with professional tutor Dave Harrell and was given a whole host of tips and tricks to help him successfully employ a waggler and maggot approach for specimens to 6lb.
“It was the best day’s fishing I have ever had and I've caught my personal best chub as well – it’s an outing I’ll never forget,” explained an elated Shaun.
To book a day with Dave call 07971 557340 or email info@daveharrellangling.com
Matchman nets a giant chub and barbel in two casts
Matchman Gareth Drury showed the specimen brigade how to do it when he banked a 10lb 4oz barbel and a 7lb 3oz chub in the space of two casts from Lancashire’s River Ribble.
Gareth used two unflavoured cubes of Dynamite Baits luncheon meat on a bomb rig to take both personal bests from an undisclosed stretch.
For the full story see this week’s Angling Times.
British record chub equaled
Angling Times can confirm that rumours of a British record equaling chub are true.
The fish weighed 9lb 5oz and is the biggest ever to come from a river venue, matching the current best taken by Andy Maker from a Southern stillwater in 2007.
It was caught early in the morning and fell to a lump of cheesepaste. For the full story and pictures see next week’s Angling Times.
Big chub seal Shropshire Union Canal victory
A big fish or bust approach proved to the right one during the latest event on the Shropshire Union Canal with Steve Faux landing three big chub for his 9lb 7oz top weight.
With roach at a premium in the difficult conditions, the Team Eclipse ace used caster from his peg in Cowley Narrows and goy off to a flying start with a lump weighing almost 6lb going into the net.
Another brace followed and that proved enough to fend off Dave Richards who recorded 7lb 15oz for the runners up slot.
