Big chub hit the banks – discover the tactics behind autumn’s biggest fish
Eight-pounder tops week’s catches
THE capture of countless huge chub from rivers across the UK has proved that now’s the time to beat your personal best.
Alfie Naylor had every reason to celebrate when he banked the fish of a lifetime in the shape of an 8lb chub from the River Trent.
The specialist from Newark has enjoyed an incredible season so far on the waterway, and his run of form continued when he turned his attentions away from barbel and on to chub.
He opted for a groundbait feeder packed with hemp, pellets and the base mix that formed his 110% Baits Red Ball Plum boilie hookbait, which was attached to the back of a size 8 hook with a short hair.
“I honestly thought it was a common carp. This is by far the biggest chub I’ve ever seen,” Alfie told Angling Times.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that this stretch of the Trent holds a British record fish.
“It was the best chub venue on the whole river in the 1980s and it’s back to its best. I’ve barely scratched the surface of its potential.”
Elsewhere, a lump of luncheon meat fished over hempseed proved the right combination for Gary Hickling, who banked a new club record 7lb 10oz chub from the Great Ouse.
It sets a new best for Vauxhall Angling Club and was landed from the River Great Ouse by Gary when he fished upstream of Radwell at the stretch of river adjoining the Sharnbrook complex.
A simple leger rig and a bait cast beneath an overhanging tree tempted the fish that beats the previous club record by 2oz.
Moving further south, another angler to smash his personal best for the species was specialist Stuart Davison.
He fished a short session on a Christchurch Angling Clubcontrolled stretch of the Dorset Stour to bank an impressive specimen that took a legered boilie hookbait and topped the scales at 7lb 3oz.
“I caught this fish on a really short session at dusk. It just goes to show that you don’t need to spend hours on the bank,” said Stuart.
The River Nene in Cambridgeshire has been in incredible form this season, and Peterborough & District Angling Association bailiff Mark Smith banked his biggest-ever chub while fishing a day-ticket stretch.
It weighed 6lb 3oz and was caught on a Sticky Baits Krill boilie.