Specimen Secrets Dai Gribble’s quick tips for catching bigger chub
CHUB will feed on practically any bait and in any conditions, making them a great species to target from now to the end of the river season.
My favourite approach is roving along a stretch of river and fishing
BAIT
Most of my roving for chub is with bread flake or cheese paste. With flake I feed mashed bread that forms a cloud of attractive particles.
With cheese paste I feed six small balls the size of a large boilie if the river is coloured. In low, clear water both bread and cheese work well – with meat as a change bait.
BE PREPARED
Bait up several swims before casting in with either mashed bread or a few balls of cheese paste.
All the fish in a shoal will compete for the food, making them less wary – a bite can come within seconds.
BE QUIET
Tread lightly, and approach so that you are not visible on the skyline. Don’t put any bags down with a thump, and avoid bright clothing. If the chub don’t know you are there they will be a lot easier to catch.
TRAVEL LIGHT
My tackle box for chub fishing is a small clamshell that fits in a pocket but contains everything I need.
A Korum lightweight chair is preferable to sitting on wet grass or in mud. I rarely stay in a swim for longer than 20 minutes. I have lots of swims and I have found over the years this approach usually is far more productive than sitting in just one swim.
Here are six tips to help you get the most from this approach. found that if chub are present they’ll take a bait within a couple of casts.
I always put a bit more bait out when leaving a swim if I intend to return to it later in the day.
LINK LEGER
An SSG-shot link leger allows me to quickly match the weight to the swim I am fishing.
I always like to fish with the minimum amount of weight needed to keep my rig where I want it. This ensures the least possible resistance, which in turn reduces the risk of a biting fish dropping the bait before I can strike.
USE LIGHT QUIVERTIPS
Nearly all my roving for chub is done with a quivertip. I use one as light a possible to minimise resistance to a taking fish, and rarely will I use a tip stronger than 2oz – often I’ll go as light as 0.75oz.
Occasionally, even with a very soft quivertip, chub bites can be extremely hard to hit.
One way to overcome this is to hold the rod and, at the first sign of a bite, move the tip towards the fish, creating slack line.
You should then strike the instant the line tightens and the tip starts to pull round.