8lb chub on a day ticket

A day-ticket stretch of river has produced the biggest chub of the season, tipping the scales at 8lb.
Mark Blincow was fishing on a stretch of the River Ouse controlled by Milton Keynes Angling Association when the new personal best took his freelined lobworm.
The fish was backed up by six chub, which all fell to the same hookbait when the specimen hunter from Northampton fished with 6lb mainline tied straight through to a size 4 Drennan hook. “I knew it was a huge fish as soon as I hit the bite, but then it dived into some snags under the far bank,” said Mark.
“It was tense for a while, but thankfully I got it out and into the net. The frame of the fish was absolutely huge – in fact the guy who took the picture for me first thought it was a carp. This chub is going to be even bigger come winter.”
Mark wasn’t the only one to bank a huge chub this week – 34-year-old Nathan Leney bagged a 7lb 15oz specimen from the famous Kings Weir stretch of the River Lea.
He too used freelining tactics, but this time with home-made cheese paste with 10lb line straight through to a size 4 hook .
 “I found a deep swim where the current flowed under the nearside bank and immediately dropped my cheese paste hookbait in without feeding any loose offerings,” said Nathan.
“The flow carried the bait under the bank and I held the line with my finger.  After a short while I felt the smallest of plucks on the line, so I hit it and the fish was on.
“A friend and I weighed it twice to make sure, but it didn’t quite make 8lb – however, we recognised that it was a known fish called ‘Scar Flank’ that came out early on in the year at 8lb 5oz.”