Shock 7lb 7oz chub from River Soar

A potential River Soar record chub has been banked in the form of this 7lb 7oz fish.

The impressive specimen, which is believed to be the biggest ever of the species caught from the Midlands waterway, was landed by 20-year-old all-rounder, Sam Grice, from a Loughborough Soar Angling Society controlled stretch in Leicestershire - an area which is relatively unknown for producing big chub.

The Nottingham based rod, targeted a deep and slow moving swim where he had fed 0.5kg of broken and whole fishmeal boilies the night before. Arriving back at his swim at first light, Sam tempted the huge specimen with a 13mm CC Moore Odyssey XXX boilie on his first cast of the session.

“When I hooked it I thought it might have been a barbel or a carp as it went off like a train. When I finally got it to surface I couldn’t believe my eyes, I’ve never seen a chub so big, especially from this river,” he said.

Well known specimen angler and Loughborough Soar AS committee member, Rob Thompson, was also shocked at the size of the catch: “It is a massive fish for the Soar particularly in the middle reaches. I know of a couple of fish which have just scraped 6lb over the years, but a mid-seven is mind blowing. With an increase in the signal crayfish population I'm sure that we will see weights increase in the future,” he added.

Sam’s setup consisted of 10lb mono mainline and a 2ft long 10lb mono hooklink tied to a size 8 Drennan Specialist hook. He now believes there could be other ‘catch of a lifetime’ fish in the waterway. “This catch will hopefully shed some light on this river’s potential as no one really knows what’s in there as some stretches barely see a rod and line.”

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