Best chub baits in order of preference...

[laguna]

I don't exclusively target big chub in winter and have yet to catch a 5 on my rivers, but have put together a list of the type of baits I find most successful this time of year that catches plenty.

In order of preference:
1. baits that contain friendly bacteria (Bread and cheese, white fur-covered continental sausage)
2. Predigested foods (bruised/ripened fruits, preserved/mature meats, chicken ****)
3. Amino acids (chopped worms, grubs, naturals/ super naturals)

Actually with the exception of cheese (almost exclusively used for chub and barbel) the same principles can be applied for all species throughout the year, though your order of preference might be different?

 

[barbelboi]

Any bait, as long as you know where they are and they don't know you're there............

 

[binka]

1) Bread - flake and crust

2) Worms

3) Steak

I use cheese paste as a "smear" on crust but can I hell as like get it to stay on the hook as a bait in its own right

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

Casters

Cheese

Worms

Not in that order, as it would depend on where i am fishing at the time.

 

[Keith M]

For me It would depend on the water temperature, the water colour, the state of flow and the number and average size of the Chub present in my swim but if I had to choose 3 of my most succesful baits for the larger Chub in the winter months it would probably be:

1. Bread crust (both on the bottom and on the surface).
2. Firm spicey Luncheon meat fished directly on the hook (with no hair)
3. Peeled Prawns (not the cheaper washed out type)

Keith

 

[trotter2]

Wasp Grub if you can bottle that luguna your on a winner

 

[greenie62]

Wasp Grub if you can bottle that luguna your on a winner

Will "Kill with Krill" work on Wasp Grubs, Chris? I can just see it now:

Laguna Long-Life Krilled Wasp Grubs​

Free samples welcomed!

 

[laguna]

Do you cook your prawns Keith? Ive only used raw for perch and have a mate who boils his for carp to toughen em up a bit.

Can preserve anything within reason. Wasp grubs are good if you can get em or know an exterminator maybe a nest in someone's loft if your brave enough? Live critters are my last choice bait, but last year another mate asked for help designing a plastic wasp grub to add flavours and that turned out okay and caught plenty of barbel on it.

The winning bait formula would be a bream deterrent, still working on that one trotter lol

 

[robtherake]

Laguna, you referred to chicken doings (if that's what was bleeped out.) What about rabbit dung or other manurial items?

Haven't seen a chub for a while but I'd have to say maggots or bread have always done well for me.

 

[theartist]

Haven't seen a chub for a while but I'd have to say maggots or bread have always done well for me.

The two baits Chub can't resist all year round and has been said if they don't know you're there then happy days!

 

[Keith M]

Do you cook your prawns Keith? Ive only used raw for perch and have a mate who boils his for carp to toughen em up a bit

I like to use pre-cooked peeled prawns, but I like the more tasty richly coloured ones, not the cheaper washed out ones that I often see in some supermarkets.

I first used Peeled prawns while I was working at a food freezer company (that used to store them) in 1977 (after leaving the RN) and to my knowledge no-one seemed to use them in those days other than salmon anglers, and the Chub just loved them.

I remember fishing Dobbs weir in 1978 using peeled prawns (one sunny afternoon) when it was full of anglers and was virtually the only angler that was catching Chub. I ended up sharing my prawns with anglers both sides of me LoL.

They don't seem quite as good now that they are used more often so are not my first choice, but they are still a good bait for me on waters that don't see a lot of them.

Keith

 

[john step]

I am surprised slugs haven't been mentioned. Freelined on small rivers they are the closest thing to a magic bait. IMO.

 

[laguna]

Will "Kill with Krill" work on Wasp Grubs, Chris? I can just see it now:

Laguna Long-Life Krilled Wasp Grubs​

Free samples welcomed!

Tell you what, I'll swap ya if you go in the loft for the grubs (minus the wasps) lol
Yeah pretty much works with anything you can get your hands on maggots, casters, caterpillars, locust, grubs of all kinds :w

 

[flightliner]

Bread,mackeral strip, wasp grub.

 

[laguna]

Laguna, you referred to chicken doings (if that's what was bleeped out.) What about rabbit dung or other manurial items?

Haven't seen a chub for a while but I'd have to say maggots or bread have always done well for me.

Yep pretty much any predigested stuff but some are better than others. I mentioned chicken 'doings' because its what the orientals use who are the real experts rearing their fish intended for the table. Chickens have a small stomach (roughly twice the size of its body) and food is passed only partly digested and full of nutrients which the fish like, similar in some ways to a carp having a short (tube) digestive system. Rabbit droppings are another good bait if you've got the stomach for it (see what I did there) but you would need to sort out the special droppings, called cecal droppings more info here: The Rabbit Digestive System *Harvest and use your **** (doings) fresh to avoid harmful bacteria colonising (no pun intended that time lol).

I like to use pre-cooked peeled prawns, but I like the more tasty richly coloured ones, not the cheaper washed out ones that I often see in supermarkets.

I first used Peeled prawns while I was working at a food freezer company (that stored them) in 1977 (after leaving the RN) and to my knowledge no-one seemed to use them in those days other than salmon anglers, and the Chub just loved them.

I remember fishing Dobbs weir in 1978 using peeled prawns when it was full of anglers and was virtually the only angler that was catching Chub. I ended up sharing my prawns with anglers both sides of me LoL.

They don't seem quite as good now that they are used more often so are not my first choice, but they are still a good bait for me.

Keith

Thanks Keith, I always use raw as I do most things. Reminds me of the time we went fishing and we hadn't had a bite for hours on prawns so we cooked what we had left in boiling water and ate them and switched to something else. Then a little while later this lad turned up opposite us and started pulling in carp one after the other, so when we packed up we asked what he was using... prawns! mg:

I am surprised slugs haven't been mentioned. Freelined on small rivers they are the closest thing to a magic bait. IMO.

Slugs are definitely off my list...Did you hear about my slug extract fail John... I'd rather eat cardomom's to be honest mg:

 

[tigger]

Haven't seen a chub for a while but I'd have to say maggots or bread have always done well for me.

Yeaph, maggots are my prefered bait for chub (and most other things n'all), followed by sweetcorn, meat and bread. There's plenty more but those are my go to baits.

 

[wanderer]

Live Gudgeon, slugs, peperami.

 

[Bob Hornegold]

Let me think.

Boilies, Boilies and Boilies !!

:wh

 

[trotter2]

Wasp grubs are good if you can get em or know an exterminator maybe a nest in someone's loft if your brave enough? Live critters are my last choice bait, but last year another mate asked for help designing a plastic wasp grub to add flavours and that turned out okay and caught plenty of barbel on it.

You wont catch many barbel on natural wasp grub, they don't seem to like it for some reason.

 

[barbelboi]

You wont catch many barbel on natural wasp grub, they don't seem to like it for some reason.

I believe that wasp grubs are overhyped as a 'magic bait'. Like many baits they will work well on their day but they're certainly not that special compared to some other baits that are far more consistant with results. Maybe this hype is due to the difficulty in actually obtaining the larvae - if a nest is professionally destroyed it will be contaminated with pesticide which is harmful to fish. The other option is sticking your hand into an active nest................