It is funny,though I've caught quite a few chub on meat over the years(including my pb)I don't like it much as a chub bait,it is too hard in winter to fish on the hook and chub dont like hair rigs too much imo,cheesepaste is another bait that even though you think it soft can harden in cold water,baits are a difficult thing for chub,as they will eat most things,but hooking them can be difficult,also it is more difficult when few but large chub are present,no competition makes Mr.Chevin a bit of a swine....
Winter chub fishing
- Thread starter keora
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If I fish Cheesepaste I will invariably mold it around a 12mm cork ball on a short hair and therefore keep the hook point proud. Sometimes I will pop the paste up by using less cheese therefore making the bait bouyant and putting putty about 2inches from the hook
no-one in particular
Well-known member
I think it is timing the strike with winter chub and hard baits, give them time to take the bait down and they break it down with their pharyngeal teeth. I let them pick it up and watch the float or line, they will swim off with it in their mouths and retreat to a spot they like and then swallow the bait. wait a few seconds and then strike. Difficult to say how long to wait but the more you do it the better you will get at it; especially when you get to know the swims and how the chub operate so to speak. Sometimes they stay put but again I can usually tell by watching the float or line and wait and judge a strike. Not always successful of course but more fish than just striking straight away. I only use hard cheddar anyway winter or summer; just find it easier to buy ready for use in the supermarket and some of that plastic packed stuff is fairly soft anyway. I just thread a baiting needle through it and pull the hook back right through and then pull it back again into the cheese until it is hidden. If I was fishing a big river or fast river I would sometimes put a bit of grass on it to hold it better on the hook for long casting.
Dairylea is very soft but in really cold weather and if your just dropping in and not casting anything more than a gentle lob it goes hardish in the cold water and stays on the hook. I have not fished with it much but a blob on a 10-14 hook in cold water have given me a few chub, no need to wait to strike as they probably have swallowed this quite early being relatively soft compared to hard baits. I believe this is good for roach as well but I cannot remember if I had any, just think I read it somewhere.
I've been having a rough time trying to catch my first winter chub, must be 6 blanks now and about to go for my 7th session, read so much information and trawled so many forums you'd think I'm some kind of master, this is starting to get painful especially when you don't know what you're doing wrong.
no-one in particular
Well-known member
Could be just bad luck but chub are the easier of fish to catch in my opinion, any method or bait will work. Finding their winter haunts is maybe the more important part of it. I don't know what all rivers are like or where your fishing but I know one river where they are completely devoid in some places in the summer but they collect there in the winter. deeper water and/or bridges are sometimes good places for winter chub but try looking for the deep water.
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As Mark says, finding them will probably be the key.
On a stretch I've fished for years, there's a lot of water that looks like it should hold Chub but doesn't, water that occasionally holds Chub, and water that invariably holds Chub.
On a stretch I've fished for years, there's a lot of water that looks like it should hold Chub but doesn't, water that occasionally holds Chub, and water that invariably holds Chub.
Start off by keeping it simple. Quivertip either bread flake or lobworms on a size 6 hook to 5lb line. Usually (but not always) chub like some sort of cover such as overhanging bushes, flood rafts, etc. Chub take lobworms really viciously so don't leave your rod or it will be pulled in. Chub eat anything but those two baits will be best to start off. Good luck.
flightliner
Well-known member
As an aside, I have a three year old, 6oz block of Danish blue cheese in my garage, its rank in there on account of it, never used such old cheese, has anyone here and if so is it OK??
FROM WHAT I'VE READ people find the older and more rotten the cheese, the more the chub seem to enjoy it
Hooked
Member
Does luncheon meat work? I've got a heap of it in the freezer getting old?
I know barbel love it.
I know barbel love it.
xenon
Well-known member
Yes, it does!
The Sogster
Well-known member
I used to make my cheese paste from Stilton which had been kept in the airing cupboard for at least 18 months. I used to take off all the packaging and place it inside a sealed plastic airtight tub.
I found that after such a length of time the cheese had formed a crust with a rank cheesy liquid underneath this made an incredibly nasty smelling bait which I found good in coloured water conditions.
However the real downside to this bait is it cannot be mixed indoors, especially if married it truly is the stuff of divorces.
Also it will put you off your sandwiches and can be smelt from a mile away against the wind. It will guarantee any angler downwind for 300 yards will be looking for the dead sheep upstream.
I say go for it if you can stomach the smell and don't wipe your hands on your trousers after baiting up. You won't be welcomed with open arms wherever you go afterwards.
John Aston
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Ultra rancid cheese doesn't offer any advantage. I use fairly recently mixed Danish blue paste and if it doesn't work I move swim, as on my waters it isn't bait that is the issue but location. If it is very cold and low, then I might swap to flake , or steak and if you want to target big fish a section of hair rigged lamprey is an idea. Meat is ok but it's a far better barbel bait for me .
no-one in particular
Well-known member
I found chub like chilli, I sometimes buy some ready made chilli cheese when I can find it which chub like a lot and I have sprinkled chilli powder on luncheon meat and they liked that as well but, I have caught chub on plain luncheon meat too.
Hooked
Member
Ok. Thanks I'll give that a go someday.
flightliner
Well-known member
Sogster, thanks for the interesting reply, Fortunately for me my sense of smell is only a patch of what it once was (not corvid, but diagnosed 4 years ago) so I should be OK to to use my blue cheese, if I'm jumping from swim to swim hopefully the wind is a downstreamer as if you say anyone downwind of of me will go elsewhere! ?
Notts Michael.
Well-known member
Get it on Ebay, and use terms like 'Artisan' 'Unique' 'Vintage' 'Cellar aged' Starting bid £30 ?
Would you more experienced chub fishermen say that winter chub prefer the shallow slacks or the deep centre trench of a river in winter?
Asking because I really can't put a ledger bait in the slacks, the river I fish is very shallow at the edges which arcs down sharply to the deep centre and basically anything you throw in just rolls down to the bottom away from the slacks, I'm just wondering if this is the reason I'm not catching chub.
Asking because I really can't put a ledger bait in the slacks, the river I fish is very shallow at the edges which arcs down sharply to the deep centre and basically anything you throw in just rolls down to the bottom away from the slacks, I'm just wondering if this is the reason I'm not catching chub.
John Aston
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Look for a crease - that is crucial . And if you have an overhanging bush , even better. Use the minimum amount of lead, but don't be afraid of using a half ounce bomb , for example , if that is needed to hold bottom . I'd avoid very shallow water in cold weather - on my river I am fishing , typically , 4 - 10 foot deep for chub.
Does your river have a good population of chub ? If so, stick at it - if not , find somewhere that does . Aim to fish the afternoon into dusk , don't get too hung up on bait choice (cheesepaste/crust/worms are all you usually need ) , or rigs (simple leger with a shortish hook length ) but do keep moving . Walk your river and get to know the spots that look right , then aim to fish a selection of swims on your session. As a rule of thumb , if you don't get a bite within 30-40 minutes , move downstream . Get a long extending landing net pole, which will enable you safely to fish off high banks - I use a 3m pole. And fish where the river looks right - that means being prepared to fish in areas that are not recognised swims.
,
Does your river have a good population of chub ? If so, stick at it - if not , find somewhere that does . Aim to fish the afternoon into dusk , don't get too hung up on bait choice (cheesepaste/crust/worms are all you usually need ) , or rigs (simple leger with a shortish hook length ) but do keep moving . Walk your river and get to know the spots that look right , then aim to fish a selection of swims on your session. As a rule of thumb , if you don't get a bite within 30-40 minutes , move downstream . Get a long extending landing net pole, which will enable you safely to fish off high banks - I use a 3m pole. And fish where the river looks right - that means being prepared to fish in areas that are not recognised swims.
,
no-one in particular
Well-known member
I still think you need to find where they might be shoaling up. I think they tend to shoal up in the winter stay like that until they spawn and then spread out more in the summer into shallower parts of the river. But that depends on the river, not all rivers are the same as are not all chub!
It just sounds to me as if you haven't got any chub in the bit you are fishing. This is crucial as if chub are there you will almost catch them at some point however your fishing or whatever bait. As Grayson said, keep roving and trying different parts. I fish a river like you describe, shallow at the edges, going to about 12/15ft in the middle and its only about 30ft across. But it has dead weed in the edges, some overhanging trees, and a bridge. They are basically in two places, by the bridge and a deep glide where there are a couple bends in the river. In the winter I am almost guaranteed a chub or two there, my best was nine by the bridge but other stretches not much chance at all and no chance in the summer, they disappear upstream into the shallower parts of the river.
I would aim to be fishing in about 6ft of water, I guess that would be about a rods length from the bank. use just enough weight to hold that line and feed a steady stream of bait you are using along it, mashed bread and flake, a few small cubes of cheese, a few small handfuls of sweetcorn, try all three why not. Light leger or float laying on over depth, use the current to find that line, over cast a bit and let the current swing it in until it settles. Wait 30min 1 hour and move along. If chub are there eventually you will find where they are hanging out, try the best places first, bridges , creases, trees, sunken obstructions etc. but if no luck try the less obvious places as well, sometimes the most fishless looking of places do produce.
Good luck, let us know if you catch one.
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