CHUB.

[Nigel Connor(ACA ,SAA)]

Baz,

I think the predatory nature of chub is often overlooked by anglers.

I've had the odd one on lures when going for perch & some very big ones apparently come out of the Grand Union on deads.

 

[Baz]

That's right nigel.
They are predatory, so when they are stocked into something like a three or four acre lake, it can't do the fry of other species much good. They must upset the natural balance.

 

[jason fisher]

chub do thrive in still waters, and canals, they have bread on numerous occasions, unlike barbel.

 

[Baz]

That doesn't mean to say they should be stocked though Jason.
Signal crayfish are thriveing, does that make it okay?

 

[jason fisher]

but chub really do thrive and reproduce in still waters, if a fish can produce a self sustaining population then i've no problem with it, what id do have problems with is putting fish in some where that they cannot be sustained without human intervention.

 

[Merv Harrison]

All fish are predatory and cannibalistic, if they can get live prey in their mouth, they'll eat it.

Chub can get into still waters naturally in many ways, especially flooding, Barbel I alway's think less so because of their natural preponderence to hold bottom in any conditions.

 

[Peter Knight]

Personally I don't think it's right to put Barbel or Chub in lakes.

However, my friend has two river fed lakes and we have caught chub in both of them. Obviuosly the fish can return to the river to spawn if they wish to but they seem very happy to feed in the lakes.

I think it's got a lot to do with water quality.

 

[Bob Roberts]

Alas we have to look at the practises of pike anglers to understand the widespread introduction of chub in many of our stillwaters.

Many, dare I say most of the chub populations in lakes is down to the illegal introduction by pike anglers. The chub itself adapts readilly to such an environment. they also seem to do particularly well in canals, even those with heavy boat traffic and highly coloured water.

Where rivers and canals combine and intertwine chub show little preference for rivers over canals, take South Yorkshire as a prime example. I'll gamble that there are more chub in the canalised sections of water than in the true river sections though access between both exists in many places.

Perhaps some chub are lazy and choose the steady water. Certainly I do most of my chub fishing in steady winter after the first frosts.

As for the chub being a predator, I wonder which specie eats more fry in a year, Mr chub or that much maligned ratfish!

 

[Baz]

I know of one club who said it is against their policy to stock predatoty fish in their stillwaters.
But they put chub in???????

 

[Paul H]

On topic, I feel the same as during the Barbel thread. All animals should have been left in their natural habitats, our interference with nature has led to animals existing in unsuitable environments and other creatures and plants thriving at the expense of others. Look at the Red Squirrel for example, decimated by the Grey variety. Signal Crayfish as mentioned before, another travesty, the list of human c*@#k ups is unfortunately endless.

 

[Deecy]

Should they be stocked ? no I don't think they should be, do they thrive in the right stillwater? absolutley.I know of several large gravel pits that have received stockings via river floods.Of those I have caught by design all have been mint condition and fight like any Chub minus the flow of a river behind them.They can be a real challenge , very elusive,high average size and one assumes the opportunity will have arisen for them to return to the river if they so wished,in fact they often go undetected.I cannot imagine this would be true of a small heavily stocked water though, I may be wrong though.
I find it strange that consent is given to stock Barbel and other species to a generally alien environment but stocking of rivers where Barbel have thrived for years - post stocking is frowned upon by the EA and English Nature.

 

[John McLaren]

It seems to me that the question here is slightly skewed by our perception of chub as river fish. In the UK that is the general rule but on the continent there are substantial natural populations of Chub in stillwaters.

Granted the stillwaters concerned usually have rivers running through them but there is almost a chicken and egg scenario - where did they originate - in the river or in the lake?

Barbel are plainly river dwellers, their shape shows that quite clearly, but is that true of chub? Also what about other fish that we regard as stillwater species, especially the roach - that used to be referred to as "the river sheep"?

Don't misunderstand me, I don't want to see muddy holes stocked with chub but as a species they seem to be naturally opportunistic and quite catholic in their choice of environment so why not allow them to be stocked in suitable lakes?

 

[Graham Whatmore]

Exactly what I was going to say John, when you think about there aren't many species of fish that exclusive to either environment, so whos to say where they should and shouldn't be. Chicken or the egg springs to mind.