6lb chub brace hiding among flood rubbish

A floating feature consisting of debris washed down river in the recent floods proved instrumental in Alan Lawrence’s impressive haul of chub.

A brace of fish weighing 6lb 2oz and 6lb were backed up with a trio of specimens over the 5lb-mark from a small tributary of the River Ouse after he cast tight to a raft made up of a wooden pallet, plastic bottles, broken branches and a football!

The unconventional feature, held in place by the overhanging branches of a submerged tree, had created a slack in the swollen river and the Bedfordshire-based specimen hunter focussed his attack around a home-made winter offering.

In order to avoid his feed from being washed away before it reached the river bed, Alan introduced a carpet of paste and bread crumbs through a 1oz feeder before attaching a 6lb fluorocarbon hooklink to his simple paternoster rig.

His trap was completed with a large piece of paste moulded around a pair of 8mm cork balls hair-rigged on a size 8 hook.

“This is an incredible achievement for me considering the amount of extra water that the river was carrying,” said Alan. ”It’s vital not to be intimidated by conditions like this and spend lots of time walking your chosen stretches  in search of areas where the chub will be seeking sanctuary out of the increased flow.

“Even if you’re fishing a stretch that doesn’t have any trees or obvious vegetation, look for any branches or bits of rubbish that have been collected on the surface on the inside of a bend and you can be assured that if there are any chub in the vicinity then they will be there.”