Warwickshire Avon – Lollygags and Loggerheads (PB Chub !!!)

No fisherman today learns all that he knows about his art as a result of his own experience. Much must be gleaned from others, through their writings or their conversation and I should be the first to acknowledge a debt to those many long-suffering friends who from time to time have taken me under their wing, have shown me the folly of some of my theories and have taught me from their own store of practical experience.

Sam was with me when he saw the powerful bite a Chub can give when a free lined peace of flake was hooved up by the grey shadow of our rivers and nearly ripped the rod out of my hands. That solid lump of fish which appeared so lethargically close to the surface but which, once hooked, is worthy of all your craft. That fish down at the ‘Brook’ properly did me over and despite a 5lb hook link and all the power I could muster to prevent it from getting under some thick overhanging branches, the hook pulled and the fish was gone.

“Sam, now ‘THAT’ was a ‘BIG CHUB’ !!!”

He often refers to that day, the day that the “That Chub nearly ripped the rod out of daddy’s hands”

A two-pound Chub is pleasant enough to catch, a three pounder gives you something to be pleased about and a fish of four pounds is good on any river, while a five-pounder is in my opinion, large enough to be called a specimen fish.

Now as someone with a mediocre PB of 4lb 13oz’s that elusive 5lb Chub has eluded me so far, but it’s one of those targets that I know will turn up eventually. Half the problem is I like convenience and many of the stretches of river I fish are less than 10 minutes from door to door.

Yeap, a 5lb Chevin is easily the biggest Monkey on my back !!!

I’ve seen them though and that’s what makes me returning to the well-trodden as I know one will eventually slip up. This particular venue I’ve caught countless 4lbers, in-fact one winters days I had 5 or 6 if I recall over 4lb when fishing lumps of cheesepaste. You know when the colour of the water is just ‘right’, the air and water temperature perfect, it was just one of those mornings I’ll never forget.

They are spooky in the summer though particularly with water this clear. A chub’s shyness or sensibility is another factor which must be considered by the angler. One cannot expect to catch them unless the approach to fish is unseen or unsensed by them, a thoughtless movement, a sudden heavy footstep, a shadow upon the water can deprive you of the sport you’re hoping for. A broken cast and a lost fish can put a whole shoal into a state of greater awareness and caution. 

I usually use a floating lure for summer chub but for this session it was out with the bread, a few freebies to try and spot where they are hopefully and then freeline a piece downsteam to try and get one to intercept the floating bait. 

A dunk in the water gets it sinking nicely though so I’d also drop in to a few swims to try and tempt one to feed instinctively. Tackle to a minimum, a roving approach; this is how I like to fish.

There are few nice swims to go at as well, one in particular, the tail end of the swim is under a willow tree, but not only that, there is some thick streamer weed here as well and Chub are often milling around popping in and out to feed on what’s coming their way.

As I said before though, they are cute these fish, if they get wind of an angler in the vicinity or something isn’t right, they bugger off quicker than my mate Hilly when it’s his turn to get a round in.

Anyway back to the fishing !!!!

Wow what a session, as soon as I got to the first swim the fish were up for feeding, still very spooky mind you even after loose feeding a good ten or fifteen minutes with freebies.

The first fish went 3lb 8oz's and I managed another 4 Chub from all different swims. As soon as one was caught they backed off and were not interested.

The last swim there were countless fish in the swim and I could see them in the clear water quite clearly. A couple were even feeding quite close in. A big chunk of bread on the hook and the bread is on it's way, half way down the swim a massive swirl in the water and a fish is on.

It felt a decent fish and tried to get under some snags to my left, with as much side strain as I dared the it's out in the open water. After a powerful fight it's in the net and looks massive.

Scales out, first it indicated 5lb 1oz but then settled at 5lb on the nose....!!!!

Yeap that big monkey that's been clinging on for dear life for years, is finally off my back.

I caught another fish in the last swim and it was home before dusk and had a nice rum to celebrate.

Oh Yes !!!!

Got to love surprises in fishing and this was one of those days.

The water was gin clear but this is a great method to try and bank a fish or two, it's an exciting as well and the tackle couldn't be any simpler, a size 6 B983 Kamasan hook and a couple of loaves of bread. Certainly the last swim seemed to have the bigger fish in it, so yeap I'll be back. Encouraging signs for this bit of river though as it's had it's predation problems in the past, I'm just hoping all will be well for winter.

A 5lb Warwickshire Avon Chub