Upper Severn Chubbing

DARREN McCANN 2 · Sep 29, 2004

They are so hard to locate, but when you do, and you feed the swims, you can be rewarded by arm wrencheng takes from fish like this. Would like to hear from other Upper Severn anglers.

GrahamM · Sep 30, 2004

Cracking Upper Severn chub Darren. I'm really envious of that one. Well done mate.

DARREN McCANN 2 · Oct 4, 2004

Cheers Graham. Do you have any views on the state of the upper reaches of the Severn, compared to the plentiful catches of 15 years ago? The fish are still there to be caught, but it seems location is the key to success. Because the fishing can be rock hard, a lot of anglers are put off and retreat to the ponds & lakes to catch fish.

EC · Oct 4, 2004

Not to mention the 90 minute drive!

Well done Darren, I have had a few fish from the Albebury area in years gone by, nothing of that size mind, but it is hard going, especially when your fishing time is limited!

I used to average a fish every 2 trips or so!

Still, it is a big achievement when you catch in that area of the Severn, which stretch roughly were you on mate?

DARREN McCANN 2 · Oct 4, 2004

Eddie,
Normally I fish the stretches between the road side cafe past Llanidloes up to Llandinum. Tell you what, you did very well to catch every 2 trips mate. I must admit that I have been exceptionally lucky this year in that my catch rate is now 1 chub per session. 17 chub so far with 10 over 5lb. I am currently working on my notes prior to submitting an article on the joys and frustrations of fishing the wild upper Severn.

GrahamM · Oct 5, 2004

Darren, I haven't fished the upper Severn for about 4 or 5 years. The journey to past Welshpool got a pain in the arse, and although the Ribble is almost as far the Ribble chub are a lot more plentiful and therefore easier to catch.

The upper Severn went into serious decline when the weed died away. Up to that point there were a lot more barbel coming on nicely and more bigger chub. Now, it's a case of finding the odd hot-spot (that might just hold one or two big chub) and hoping they're still there each time you go.

EC · Oct 5, 2004

I havent fished the upper river for a few years mate, but my fish were all 4lb+ stamp, had nowt approaching 5, but that was a good while back, could be that like other rivers the fish are paking it on!

Thats some serious stats you are talking there Daz, 10 fish over 5 is top drawer from any river mate!

I once had a day when I had two at 4+ in a session, I was bouncing, but none of my mates ever fancied it as it was such a trek (from Merseyside) for often little return!

Whose stretch of water is it Daz?

The stretch I used to fish was WAA!

DARREN McCANN 2 · Oct 7, 2004

LDAA stretch & Severnside are best in my opinion Ed, but I feel I shall be venturing elsewhere until Winter arrives. Need to find some barbel action!!

EC · Oct 7, 2004

I have limited time now mate, so am venturing more on to the middle river to be honest, blanks are fine when you get out quite a lot and have a travel partner, but when the time becomes limited a more safe bet is the tune of the day for me at least!

Drop us a line via email if you are looking at anywhere in particular and i'll see if I can help,

cheers

EC

Albert Watkinson 2 · Apr 14, 2005

in the 80s i had a newsagents business at
llanidloes and fished from there down to newtown.when i retired i had a bungalow at llandinham and trotted under the bridge for grayling.lovely for supper.under the bridge at caersws was my chub haunt and had some good days there on the meat.at that time i should say they were in the 3lb class but happy days.i came back to cheshire to be near the family and get back on the dane.
albert

Graham Whatmore · Apr 18, 2005

All my 40 years of fishing the Severn, and never fished it that high up, it looks like I missed out on something special. Lovely chub Darren, fish you can be proud of.

Years ago the BAA had lots of water on the upper Severn and its tributaries and hardly anyone fished it, when things started to get tight, moneywise, they, along with the Wye were the first to go.

Sadly BAA no longer have any water at all on the Wye and only Buttington Bridge, Pool Quay and Aberbechan on the upper Severn

Frank Gleeson · Jan 21, 2007

My best bag of Chub above Welshpool was 15 fish, all on float fished maggot and all between 4 and 5lb!

They run big on the upper Severn and there are plenty of them!

Deanos · Jan 21, 2007

What beautiful chub!.
Its my favourite species Darren.
Congratulations, I know fish like those only come through much hard work and dedication.

William Burns · Jan 22, 2007

WOW CONGRATULATIONS DARREN!

I've been wanting to fish the river severn for 5yrs now for barbel & chub but location to fish & transport has been a bit of a prob but even if I have to walk from Wrexham North Wales then I will this year & just to be there is enough for me.I fished the river Dee once only to lose what felt & looked like a very nice Chub.I've watched & read a lot about the Severn so it's a DREAM of mine.
If there is anyone who is planning to go there this year PLEASE PLEASE E-MAIL ME & I would be glad to come along as I'm planning to move up to shropshire in the future!!

HAPPY FISHING!!

DARREN McCANN 2 · Feb 1, 2007

Yeah thanks for all the positive messages guys, things have changed a bit since my last posting. As I stated before, I fish below Welshpool,more towards Llandinum, Llanidloes where it is harder to locate the Big Chub. Fishiing above Welshpool is very good and you can have a good day's sport on float tackle. Since my last posting I have extracted 36 chub over 5lb and 5 over 6lb, all to stalking tactics. I started my own bait company 4 years ago and developed a boilie specifically to attract chub. The River Secret boilie is now being used by many of the countrys top chub anglers with biggest chub so far at 7lb 7oz off the Dorset Stour. It all started on the Severn, and the chub certainly like it. Sometimes it does seem like the river is full of big chub, but I put it down to the effectiveness of using this bait to draw chub into my chosen swim. The Severn is certainly proving itself as one of the finer chub rivers in the North and will also throw up some huge barbel.

Frank Gleeson · Apr 11, 2007

Doesn't BAA have 'Forden' also on the upper Severn, from Cilcewydd Bridge upstream for about 2 miles?

john conway · Apr 11, 2007

Don?t know how I missed this thread 1st time around, congratulations Darren some very nice chub there. Because you said most of them have came from stalking tactics am I right in assuming most of your fish were taken during daylight?
When you first started did you fish with conventional baits like bread and cheese or did you start straight off on boilies?
BTW I look forward to reading your article in the near future.

DARREN McCANN 2 · Apr 12, 2007

Hi John

Yes all my stalking is done early morning and usually by sight fishing tactics. To answer your question I did start off using usual baits like luncheon meat and they did work. However the eels and bream also liked it so I set about designing my own chub bait which I used as boilie and paste. I have every faith in my bait as it does attract the chub from afar, which is handy as there are miles and miles of baron, fish devoid swims on the Severn. Crewe Pioneers have many good stretches at Abermule and Llandinum and I recommend them highly. BAA have a few tasty stretches at Forden and Buttington. Ihave fished most of the stretches except Welshpool, so I may try that this summer.

Upper Severn Chubbing

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