Winter Chubbing

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Nice article

I'm out tomorrow fishing mashed bread for chub, I'm going to try your method for fishing the weed rafts.

Another great article Christian. Thanks.

Winter chubbing is a great way to spend a few cold winter days

Nice one Christian. I just hope enough rain starts to come to make it all worthwhile. No sign of chub where I am at the moment and won't be til they get flooded out of their "sanctuary".
In the meantime I'll have to get second-hand gratification from your catch reports.

Thanks for your comments..... I was particularly excited about this article as I have yet to see an 'open bail arm' method of bite detection described for chub in any other article/feature. I am interested to hear what you think......

A very interesting read Christian. I have used the open bail arm method for a few years now, however my preferred methods are freelining and trotting.
Jerry

The way I usually see it is, as the bite develops, the chub will be pulling line from the spool sometimes a few inches, but often up to twelve inches or more. Eventually the chub will bolt off and line will be stripping off the reel at a very fast pace. I believe it is important not to tighten up too quickly as it’s the speed at which the chub is moving which dictates the timing of turning the bail arm over.

Good work prof.
We seem to have similar rivers (unsurprisingly) in Norfolk. Not sure about the bite detection thing? Maybe on some occassions it might be better to have them take line from an open reel. Probably good to have another option when your first choice is not working. Regards the freelining, I have fed chub on the H.A. with floating crust but they have ignored my bait that has as far as I'm concerned floated in the same fashion. In desperation I have squeezed the bread on harder so that it sinks slowly and they have taken it a few inches under the surface.
Thanks for the article, it's always good to think, Matthew.

matthew barter said:

Good work prof.
We seem to have similar rivers (unsurprisingly) in Norfolk. Not sure about the bite detection thing? Maybe on some occassions it might be better to have them take line from an open reel. Probably good to have another option when your first choice is not working. Regards the freelining, I have fed chub on the H.A. with floating crust but they have ignored my bait that has as far as I'm concerned floated in the same fashion. In desperation I have squeezed the bread on harder so that it sinks slowly and they have taken it a few inches under the surface.
Thanks for the article, it's always good to think, Matthew.

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One of my friends is a skillful exponent of fishing bread, this is very much why he finds bread so versatlie........ I learnt so much fishing with this angler. It is amazing how versatile bread is....

chav professor said:

Thanks for your comments..... I was particularly excited about this article as I have yet to see an 'open bail arm' method of bite detection described for chub in any other article/feature. I am interested to hear what you think......

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On the face of it, it sounds like a recipe for potential deep-hooking?

I don't know exactly how Chav works this method Simon but I tend to gently take the line in my fingers once a bite develops. This then become a sort of touch ledgering with an open bailarm - Although there may well be a possibility of deep hooking a fish, as with other methods, I've found that it is easier to loose a fish if your timing of closing the arm is not quite right rather than the other way round.
Jerry

Hi Chav

Excellent artilce.

I really like the idea of the open bail arm, will certainly work on the Stour in low flow conditions as we have now. Not sure about the Avon mind, although if we don't get rain soon there may no be a river left to fish.

Keep them coming.

Eddy

Simon K said:

On the face of it, it sounds like a recipe for potential deep-hooking?

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This is a valid consideration. I have used this technique on three rivers and have yet to experience a deep hooked chub. As jerry suggests, it is down to reading the bite. I use pike fishing or perch fishing as an analogy......

To further clarify, the point of the piece was to examine the process of bite detection. Each method has an application and inherent problems. The key to good bite detection is to keep resistance to a minimum, whilst being able to interpret when to strike.

I do not tend to use the open bail arm as a first response type of indication - in many ways it could be argued that free lined presentations actually produces lousy bite indication in certain circumstances. I tend to use this method when I have missed an otherwise hittable bite....... especially if I think the fish has just swam off with it in its lips.

Chub are by nature a greedy fish, and whilst cautious, will come back and have another go if feeding. If I have been in a swim and recieved a sequence of missed bites, I often suspect it is either one or two persistant Chub...... This method just came about in reponse to this specific problem.

The Chub bite is the perenial problem for all chub fisherman. Its just that different rivers present different challenges and this is what fasinates me. Its interesting to consider new thinking and ideas that arise from different anglers fishing different types of waters.

The alternative and very viable method is to maximise resistance. This is an area I am very grateful to your input as the evolution of my thought processes went in a different direction. There are scenarios where the method you described in detail is perfect and has applications very suited to the venues I fish - and is in fact is far more versatile.

Cheers Christian

Christian, have you read any of Bob Buteaux's stuff on his chubbing?

Simon K said:

Christian, have you read any of Bob Buteaux's stuff on his chubbing?

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No I haven't.... I have a book by Bob Buteux in memory of his friend Bill Quinlan - nothing specifically on chubbing. I was hoping to meet Bob at CSG AGM last year but he was unable to attend. I understand he is a very tallented chub angler as other anglers from that generation including Peter Stone. He still manages to catch chub that easily eclipse anything I have caught thus far!

Which one would you recomend? I recently purchased Peter Stones 'Fishing for big Chub'. Its a few years old, but much is still relavent.

Interesting article Christian, like you I really look forward to the challenge of winter Chub fishing. I agree entirely about resistance, having caught Chub on dead baits intended for Pike, if a wire trace doesn't put them off line can't be a problem. If flows are low I go for a tiny bobbin but if I can't hit the bite with that then touch ledger with a big loop of line held in the left hand ready to feed out when a bite is detected. Great fun and totally absorbing, Chub in winter can present a real puzzle sometimes but the big girls are a worthy prize.
Caution needs to be exercised though with freelining, deep hooking or a fish running back to cover and snags is a real possibility but every situation must be judged on the bank and on its merits.
I found some Chub in a swim where, when hooked, they would kite into the near bank and snag me before I could get them clear of danger. I only fished there once, bought a club card for the other bank from where, when hooked, I could guide them away from the snags and haven't lost one since in that swim.

Congratulations on another very good article Christian. Some very thought provoking stuff that makes for interesting reading. :thumbs:
I remember an article by the late, great, Peter Stone about chub fishing with finicky bites. His answer was to push the rod forward as soon as the bite started, giving slack, and therefore giving the chub "enough rope to hang itself".

Cheers Bigchub,

It was a significant factor that put some extra fish on the bank from a river very near you!

I do something similar to what you describe. I rarely use a bankstick - my chair is the type that allows me to hold the rod in comfort. When you get the initial 'tap', from 90 degrees, point the rod directly at the fish and then hold the line for the bite in the style of touch ledgering. I have never been a big fan of pure touch ledgering..... maybe 2 or 3 bites in an afternoon on a good day........ I like to have a visual reference.... life is too short for touch ledgering unless I feel it is going to be one of those rare 'many bite' days!!!!! At the moment its one bite or nothing

Thanks for that...nice article! Shame we don't get slugs slithering about in the winter months, eh? A supreme chub bait - and they're free. I'm taking the opportunity here to warn against dislodging a deep hook with a finger: I did it ONCE, many years ago. Never again. My middle finger came back crushed and bloody and in great pain!

bigchub said:

Congratulations on another very good article Christian. Some very thought provoking stuff that makes for interesting reading. :thumbs:
I remember an article by the late, great, Peter Stone about chub fishing with finicky bites. His answer was to push the rod forward as soon as the bite started, giving slack, and therefore giving the chub "enough rope to hang itself".

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Many of his generation used a similar style of fishing!!

They would point the rod at the bait, allowing a loop to form between the bait and the weight, this might be a light weight or the weight of the bait.

They would also hold a loop of line in their hand and watch the arc of the line between the rod tip and the water.

When they got a Bite and the loop of the line began to tighten, they would release the line in their hand, this gave the Chub plenty of time to take the bait into the mouth.

The resulting strike would normally result in a hooked fish.

Anglers of the status of Peter Stone and Bob Buteux were highly skilled at this form of angling, Bob was the greatest Bread angler I have ever seen using this method, but it takes years to learn.

I really don't like the idea of an Open Bale arm approach and would much prefere to use a very light quiver tip on a Jelly rod to see those tentative bites.

And the Chub on the Lea don't come any spookier !!

They are chased by every Pot Hunter in the Country as well as locals and have seen it all before.

So light lead, Jelly Rod and a loop of line would be my prefered route, if I was still catching and not trapping Chub.

Anjoyed the article Chav.

Bob