Another giant Trent chub landed
PATIENCE proved to be the key factor in the capture of this personal-best 7lb 12oz River Trent chub.
It fell to the rod of East Yorks all-rounder Colin Hebb, who’d baited a near-bank overhanging tree with Nutrabaits River Plus boilies at 2pm but had to wait until 9.30pm for the bite.
“As soon as I struck into the fish I thought I’d hooked a barbel, so I was shocked to see a chub!” he tells us.
Colin Hebb and his 7lb 12oz chub
Sunken barge home to enormous summer chub
JUST a week after catching a personal-best 7lb chub from the tidal River Trent, Macclesfield angler Ian Potts returned to slip his net under an even larger specimen weighing 7lb 6oz.
He targeted a gravel run next to a sunken barge, using a straight lead set-up and a 14mm Spicy Furter pellet hookbait.
“When this one took my bait I thought it was a small barbel as the bite was an absolute screamer – so I was shocked to see this giant, fin-perfect chub surface,” he tells us.
Ian Potts with his second 7lb-plus Trent chub of the season
“I’m going to apply for the British record chub"
A claim for the British record chub will be submitted after an angler fishing the River Severn caught a large specimen weighing in at 10lb 11oz.
“I’ve caught chub to 6lb 15oz from the River Severn before, but the one I landed on a recent session was in an altogether different league.”
These were the words of captor Kam Srih, who whilst stunned by what his scales were reading, checked the weight six times to make sure.
He told Angling Times:
“I was fishing at Coalport, a Rowley and District Angling Society water, and had been loosefeeding boilies for a while before casting out in a bid to get the fish competing. A short while later I had a few bangs on the tip and then the rod hooped over. Straight away the fish snagged me.
“It wouldn’t budge, so I slackened off the line and eventually it moved back out into the main flow.
“I could feel a heavy weight plodding around, but then it snagged me again, so I gave it more slack line, which did the trick once more. Suddenly, it leapt out of the water and I thought I was attached to a salmon – it had such a big tail. Once I’d eased the fish towards me and into the net I stood there shaking. It was a chub, and a huge one at that.
“I calmed myself down, and after weighing the fish on my digital scales they registered 12lb 2oz. I thought ‘that’s not right’ so I weighed it again.
“In total, it was weighed six times, and on each occasion the scales showed 12lb 2oz. I released the chub and then weighed the net, which I knew weighed 1lb 7oz, and the scales registered this exactly, which means my fish weighed 10lb 11oz.
“I’m going to apply for the British record, but whatever the outcome, to me it’s one very special chub.”
Kam Srih weighed this chub at 10lb 11oz
We will keep up to date with Kam’s claim, but with no witnesses, it will likely be rejected by the British Record Fish Committee.
First ever chub is over 8lb!
Anglers getting back on the rivers today are bound to run into a chub or two, but they are unlikely to meet a specimen of this size so early in the season.
The monstrous fish pictured weighed in at a whopping 8lb 3oz and was caught by Henry Chilton from a Derbyshire Stillwater.
The shocked carp angler told Angling Times:
“With my mind set on carp I headed to a mixed coarse fishery in Derbyshire before dawn for a planned overnighter.
“The owner told me that a handful of chub were introduced in the late 1990s but were rarely ever seen, so I didn’t take much notice. I was soon settled into a swim with lily pads around 50yds away. I baited it with 12mm and 16mm glugged Krill boilies and cast a 12mm pop-up over the top. As the sun started to peak over the trees my bobbin dropped to the deck.
“The fight was just like a small carp but near the net I saw a flash of silver and realised it wasn’t what I was after. I’d never seen a chub, so I wasn’t sure what it was!
“The owner came down to help me weigh it and said: ‘That’s a beast of a chub – that’s massive.’
“I’m only 19 and my first-ever chub was 8lb 3oz! It’s probably the best fish of my life and I doubt I’ll ever catch a bigger one.”
Henry Chilton with his first ever chub at 8lb 3oz!
Chub falls ounces short of river record - Chay Jackson
“What a day I had on the River Anker. I’d been targeting a 5lb-plus chub from this stretch for a while now, but I always believed it could throw-up a whacker, having lost a couple of proper fish in the past.
“I’d already enjoyed plenty of sport during the day with three chub to 4lb 14oz taking a liking to my homemade cheesepaste but I wasn’t prepared for my next bite – an absolute donkey of a chub weighing 6lb 8oz!
I checked later and realised my fish fell just a couple of ounces short of the Anker record.
It was simply incredible.”
Four-year wait for first 7lb-plus chub
A FOUR-year wait for a 7lb chub from King’s Weir came to an end for Ian Harvey in the shape of this 7lb 15oz Lea stunner.
The Stevenage rod left his paste hookbait out for more than six hours before the rod hammered over just as darkness fell.
He told Angling Times:
“The tip wrapped round and the line starting stripping off the reel .
“I struck and the fish was on . The fish darted for a snag on the far bank but I managed to play it into the open river.
“After a few minutes fighting I got him close to the net .
“At first I thought big barbel due to the aggression of the fight then I saw a huge chub come to the surface.
“I couldn’t believe it was a chub ,it was so big!
“My hands started shaking but I got it in the net - unbelievable!"
“I’d never seen anything like it, it took me a few hours and a pint to calm down.
Return to John Wilson's swim provides 6lb 12oz chub - John Davey
“I hadn’t been chub fishing for ages so I headed to this swim on the Waveney where I fished with angling legend John Wilson probably 60 years ago.
I was pleased to see that it hadn’t changed much over the years and the area of slack water was still there.
My approach hadn’t changed much either and I plopped a cheesepaste hookbait into the slack water on a link leger.
My bait wasn’t in the water five minutes when the tip arched round and I struck into a hard-fighting chub which bore hard for the near bank.
I soon had her in the net – a wonderfully proportioned 6lb 12oz chub. I reckon John would’ve been proud.”
Bream turns into monster chub!
Mike Staines had a silver surprise on a recent session, when fishing for bream on the River Lea he hooked into a giant chub of 7lb 13oz.
He told Angling Times:
“I ventured over to the Kings Weir Fishery on the River Lea at 11am and planned to fish for the big bream that live there all the way up until the afternoon.
I managed two slabs of 7lb 11oz and 7lb 13oz whilst using maggot feeder tactics but decided to switch one of the rods to an open-ended feeder with groundbait and a pellet hookbait just before it got dark.
The logic was that it would be easier to attract the fish to a smellier bait but It would also gave me a better chance of catching a barbel or a chub – which grow very big in this river.
At 5:40pm I landed an 8lb 14oz bream on the pellet set-up but an hour later the same rod signalled yet another very good bite.
The tip absolutely hammered round but unlike the bite, the fight was very sluggish as the fish came straight to the surface and was eased into the net first time!
To be honest I thought it was another bream, but when it turned out to be a chub I was absolutely delighted.
“It’s one of the biggest chub caught from King’s Weir this season.”
A hat-trick of Ouse chub - Phil Mapp
“Over my last two sessions targeting the River Great Ouse I’d managed to catch a brace of chub on each day, so I was determined to catch three in this trip to finally tick-off the ‘hat-trick’.
Using a roving approach with link-legered breadflake, I targeted snaggy areas and by 9am I’d had my first bite – a small chub weighing 4lb on the nose.
By 12:30pm I had one of 5lb 3oz in the net so there was plenty of time to tick off that third fish!
At 2:40pm I got an indication on the tip that I leaned into, and immediately this strong fish tore off downstream under some snags.
After gaining some line and pulling the chub into the crease I regained control and eventually the flow pushed the fish round into the margin where she graced the net.
At last I had the hat-trick I’d been searching for thanks to this excellent 6lb 14oz chub, which gave me a grand total of 16lb 1oz for the day.”
"I've done it again - another Ouse giant!" - Vito Napoli
“My rod remained motionless in eight swims and I was beginning to feel defeated.
“I continued scouting around and spotted a nice crease under an overhanging willow tree which looked too good to miss.
“I kneeled down in position and lobbed a nice lump of cheddar cheese into the crease and bounced it under the tree.
“The rod tip soon pulled hard to the right and an immense scrap commenced.
“I thought it was a barbel until it emerged from the water and thrashed its tail in anger!
“I was surprised and ecstatic because I knew it was going to be another PB – I had only caught a 7lb 3oz best a week prior!
“After she was measured and weighed I was gobsmacked as she came in at 7lb 11oz.”
Chunky Chub with a Taste for Cheddar
This thick-set chub almost had Vito Napoli fooled for a barbel, but he was pleased when this 6lb 15oz chub popped up.
Fishing with a lump of cheddar cheese under an overhanging Oak tree, Vito felt a few plucks on the line before his tip pulled round.
“Initially I thought I'd locked onto my 19th barbel of the season,” Vito revealed,
“it shot off like a missile, but as I turned the fish it started to dive deeper down towards cover. It showed no mercy all the way to the net.
“It had a huge head and shoulders, it’s been eating well and will definitely make a very special fish later on in the season.”
Britain's longest river has anglers in Severn heaven!
ANGLERS fishing the River Severn for chub are currently being treated to some of the largest specimens ever seen on the river.
Topping this week’s reports are a pair of 7lb-plus fish, with the highlight being a 7lb 4oz monster.
Roger Carswell was the fortunate captor of the larger specimen, which he described as one of the biggest Severn chub he had heard of, in his nigh on sixty years of fishing.
The Shrewsbury based rod told Angling Times:
“Recent conditions on the River Severn have been exceptionally good for January and it's been a dilemma whether to target chub or barbel.
“Following a couple of decent chub and a 5lb barbel, the swim went quiet, and I was considering a move – then the tip bent purposely around again.
“After a bum-twitching fight, I was soon looking down at the flanks of one of the biggest chub I’ve ever seen in my landing net.
“Severn chub do seem to be getting bigger in recent years, this may be due to the reduced barbel population – I’ve had quite a few six pounders over the last couple of seasons.”
Roger’s fish fell to a piece of bread flake mounted on a size 6 hook tied to 6lb hook-link, with a 2oz cage feeder delivering liquidised bread loose-feed.
The second biggest chub from the Severn this week fell to Phil O’Callaghan, who caught a chunky 7lb 2oz fish from the upper river.
Bread was also the winning bait for Phil, who followed up his new personal best with another fish of 4lb 11oz – both on link legered flake.
It's chub time!
IF YOU’VE been trying to up your chub personal best then now is a superb time to hit the bank, as a flurry of specimen catches have proven.
Here are the stories behind three ‘sevens’ to get you inspired to get out chubbing…
Simon Baker 7lb 9oz chub
SIMON Baker’s decision to sit in the dark for over an hour to pre-bait his swim with maggots worked an absolute treat, as he latched into this sublime 7lb 9oz chub just 20 minutes into fishing!
It proved to be the 30-year-old’s third 7lb-plus chub of the season, with a single maggot fished on a size 20 super spade proving to be the difference between failure and success.
Simon said: “The first cast was made and within 20 minutes the float disappeared. A very heavy chub sat in mid flow slowly being teased until finally netting my first chub of 2020.
Ken Hallewell 7lb 6oz chub
“I WAS so lucky to land this one as I was fishing in a real jungle of a swim,” so said Ken Hallewell who battled this mint 7lb 6oz chub from the snags into his net.
The Farnborough-based angler targeted his local River Thames stretch and lowered a bread feeder with flake on the hook just behind a raft, thinking it’d be his best chance of a bite.
“A drop-back bite registered on the tip and I had to play this strong fish very hard from the off, as there were snags in every direction!” Ken said.
Robin Adcock 7lb 2oz chub
AFTER years of trying to catch a 7lb-plus chub Robin Adcock was elated to slip his net under this 7lb 2oz specimen.
Pinning his hopes on the Middle River Trent, Robin enjoyed several runs from barbel up to 13lb 4oz during the night but struck into something altogether different when morning arrived…
“At first I thought it was another barbel but when I had it in close it tried to dive in to the bank side cover, then I had my suspicions it could be a chub,” he said.
“After a great scrap under the rod tip I was elated to see it was a monster, and a new PB at that.”
A single 14m cheesy garlic pellet was Robin’s successful hookbait.
Huge Yorkshire chub landed at dusk
Yorkshire chub don’t get much better than this 7lb 2oz specimen landed by Tony Stockdale from the River Swale.
Hitting the bank on Boxing day, Tony settled into a swim that he deliberately left alone until dusk.
“I started to get tiny indications on the tip and then missed a couple of shy bites,” Tony revealed, “but I finally hit into a heavy fish that turned out to be a new PB Chub of 7 lbs 2 oz.”
Tony added a fish of 6lb 5oz afterwards, both of which fell to breadflake fished beneath a cage feeder filled with liquidised bread.
Floods see side stream throw up monster chevin
THIS CLONKING 7lb chub nearly took Mark Austin through every snag in the swim but with a bit of force and determination he finally steered it into his net!
It proved to be Mark’s second 7lb chub of the season which also came from a stretch of the River Great Ouse near Milton Keynes, although the fish were in a different area this time around…
“All the recent floods had moved the chub into a side stream of the main river, which is normally overlooked as it’s shallow and narrow,” Mark said.
“I legered some meat paste under a sunken tree and I soon hooked this chub, which powered off downstream through lots of snags, and I had to really put the pressure on land it.”
Magic ten minutes for 13lb chub brace
HOLDING two fish up for the camera can be a bit of a balancing act but Rich Brown managed to display these fantastic 6lb and 7lb 6oz chub with ease!
Both came within a magic ten-minute window during a session on the River Great Ouse and each found Rich’s cheese paste-wrapped cork balls too good to resist.
“After the ‘6’ my rig went straight back out and the tip started thumping again,” he said.
“My mate came over, grabbed the net and shouted, ‘That’s special’ – he was certainly right!”
'Gut feeling' results in massive Witham chub
Chub don’t come much better-looking than this pristine 7lb 10oz example landed by plastic factory worker Bryan Hankins.
Targeting a remote stretch of the upper River Witham, Bryan managed to get on its banks for the first time since March due to high water levels that had left it unfishable.
It wasn’t long before he was into a large fish, that at first, he believed to be one of the venue’s elusive barbel…
“When I hooked the fish, it stayed deep in the powerful flow and felt very heavy.
“I thought I was a barbel but when the fish surfaced, I realised it was a massive chub.“After a bit of to-and-froing I managed to steer it into the landing net before peeling back the mesh to reveal a scale-perfect fish in immaculate condition.
“It is certainly one of the biggest chub the river has ever produced and is a new PB for me. It’s blown me away” Bryan said.
And Bryan may have missed out on the fish, had he not followed to an instinct to return to a swim he’d tried earlier in the day.
“I had odd knocks in one swim that didn’t materialise, so I rebaited it with mashed bread and minced beef and headed upstream for a few hours.
“A gut feeling pulled me back to the original spot, and with a slight change of tactics, using a cage feeder, a longer hook link and a maggot and flake cocktail on a size 6 hook, I managed to connect with the fish.”
Rolled cheese banks massive Ouse chevin
CHEESE is a bait often overlooked by anglers but when Vito Napoli legered a cube of cheddar during his latest trip he didn’t wait long before it was devoured by this cracking 7lb 3oz chub!
The Bedfordshire rod, who is a member of the Chub Study Group, hooked into the powerful fish during a visit to a flooded River Great Ouse but had to squeeze into a narrow swim to ensure he could fish an area of slack water.
He said: “I decided to go fishing without checking the river levels and soon found myself on a raging OXO-coloured Great Ouse…I was half expecting Augustus Gloop to float past!
“I persevered however and quickly found a tight swim with a nice slack thanks to two hawthorn bushes either side.
“I rolled the cheese right under one of the hawthornes and within minutes my rod tip twitched a couple of times.
“I honestly thought it was debris, so I lifted the rod then bang! – the cane hooped over in half!”
What followed next was one of the greatest fights of Vito’s fishing career as this powerful fish tried to shake the hook in the fast current…
“It was a tremendous fight in such a tight area,” Vito said.
“It lasted for five or so minutes and just hugged the bottom – trying to headbang its way to cover under the other hawthorn bush.
“Eventually I saw my lead appear from beneath the murky water followed by a flash of silver, but she bolted into the net.
“I knew I’d caught a real zoo creature!”
At 7lb 3oz the fine chub beat Vito’s previous best of 6lb 6oz, which he caught just a week prior.