Saturday 11 March 2017

Floodwater Chub 2


A very different morning, we we're on the river for sunrise, the bright conditions had been replaced with fog and drizzle - the river was even higher and still rising.

Different tactics today, we were going to wander along putting a ledgered bait into any little slacks for 20 minutes or so before moving on. James opted for cheese, I opted for the trusted luncheon meat.


I had an eel in the second swim but then the bites were very hard to come by and a lot of water was covered. I think I had 3 or 4 decent wraps on the tip throughout the day, and missed all but one...

But it was the one I was after, not enough fight for a barbel but too heavy for a chub? Nope, we saw a monster chub swirl as it made a break for some submerged reeds, a few more lunges before being swept up in the net.


What a fish, a new personal best 6lb 12oz chub - the cherry on the icing on the cake! Brilliant end to the campaign this season.

So it's a massive thanks to James for netting and photography, and for driving. And for not pushing me in when we weighed her (he has had some lovely chub this season though). We'll be back in the summer...

11 comments:

  1. Stonking Brian !!!! Nice to see the tables turned for a change, I bet James had the same facial expression as the Chub :)

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    1. Cheers Mick. James' reaction was "f*cking luncheon meat! They must see f*cking luncheon meat every day". Before hand he said he just wanted to see one on the bank, didn't care who caught it!

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  2. It's an incredible Chub! well deserved and next season I will get my chance!

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    1. As Mick said, makes a change. But yeah - I'm sure I'll be photographing you with a high six soon (keep you sweet for when you're photographing my seven :-).

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  3. well done! in complete contrast,your local river dropped 2 feet overnight and you can count the pebbles!

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    1. Cheers Grant. They are managing the water flow to do some repairs further upstream - why they are doing it on the last weekend of the season is just bad manners!!

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    1. That's what she said! Cheers Russell.

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    2. ooh...matron...good to know.didn't realise there was such a big hole in the river!hope they finish by june. 1 eel,1 chub of 4-12 was all that could fit under 6" of water!

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    3. You've got to fish the conditions you're given - so a 4-12 chub is a good result considering!

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  5. Just seen this, a great fish. Amazing how much bigger a fish can look, my pb is 5.8 chub but have heard of bigger in the Swale.

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