Why river fishing is set for a boom - Rob Hughes

Obviously, with matches still currently off the agenda for many, there are a lot of anglers who can’t do what they would normally do. 

Some commercial match fishing venues have taken the opportunity afforded by lockdown and the time of the year to close in order to undertake maintenance after what have been a ridiculously busy few months. Others are open just for pleasure fishing so it’s still possible to “sack up” even if it’s not in a competition environment.

It’s been interesting, looking at social media, to see how people have been getting their fishing fix during this recent mini-lockdown. Rivers seem to be getting a bit more traffic, and high-profile match anglers like
Des Shipp and Steve Ringer have been heading off to them in search of very different fishing to their norm.

Chub seem to be a real favourite among match anglers, and there’s good reason for that. They’re such obliging creatures. They really pull back and are always great fun on float tactics, in particular. Whether you’re fining down and catching nets of smaller ones or heading out after bigger specimens, it’s one of the best times of the whole year to have a go for them too.

Chub are definitely one of the go-to fish at the moment. It’s interesting to see that my local club, Frome Angling Association, is already organising some post-lockdown river matches. Could this new-found interest be a sign of things to come?

There’s no doubt that chub are an enjoyable species to fish for