Go after big chub after species has an incredible week
The season’s best chub of 8lb 5oz tops a bumper list of fish caught in a fantastic week for the species.
Backing-up the mid-8lb fish were a pair of seven-pounders alongside several more of 6lb-plus to round off a tremendous run of form on southern rivers.
The 8lb 5oz fish was landed by southern specimen angler Matthew Hartshorne, who connected with his prize on a night fishing session.
At the time of Angling Times going to press, Matthew was unavailable to provide additional details of his catch, although it was banked from a section of the River Thames in Maidenhead.
This massive fish was followed by a thumping 7lb 2oz chub caught by Leighton McDonnell.
Targeting the River Great Ouse, Leighton fished with paste wrapped around a cork ball suspended 18ins off the bottom.
Speaking of his capture, Leighton said: “I fed 50 pieces of paste across two swims after hearing the fish splashing as it searched for fry in the margins.
“It was on my third cast when I hooked this very fat chub that spewed out fry in the net!”
Stewart Barnes also had a sensational session, landing a 7lb 6oz chub alongside a 10lb 1oz barbel. Targeting a gravelly spot behind streamer weed on the River Great Ouse above Bedford, Stuart legered two 10mm boilies wrapped in paste alongside just four boilies fed in a PVA bag.
The third ‘seven’ fell to Paul Restall in the shape of a 7lb beauty. He hooked into the fish from a stretch of the Hampshire Avon, but Paul believes there were even bigger fish in his peg.
“I spotted a shoal of large chub, and I’m sure some of these were even bigger than the fish I landed!” he said. He legered an 8mm halibut pellet over 4mm and 6mm feed alongside crushed hemp and halibut groundbait to tempt the impressive specimen.
Patience was key for Andrew Tredgett, who landed a cracking 6lb 13oz River Lea chub on his latest outing.
He said: “I located a shoal of big chub and barbel under a bush and fed them pellets for a week before casting a 15mm boilie on a short hooklink to nail the fish.”
To round off a sensational week, Derren Burr scooped a stunning pair of chub including a monster of 6lb 15oz and a smaller one of 5lb 10oz. Fishing the River Great Ouse, the angler from Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire made the most of a quick evening session and landed his fish in consecutive casts using 8mm halibut pellets alongside PVA bags filled with 3mm samples.
