Winter Chub

[Steve Burke]

I suspect the reason the chub feed better after dark in such clear water is that they feel more secure than in the day. I often find that the biggest fish comes in the dark.

 

You can buy various accessories to enable you to use a betalight, Starlight or mini battery light on your rod tip. However, it's very easy to make your own. I think someone posted a link to an illustrated article in the past. Budgie?

 

Luminous paint I haven't tried, but it doesn't work that well on floats.

[GLOBE]

I've found that some of the very best winter chub fishing can be had after dark in freezing temperatures of frost or snow. Some of my most fondest winter cubbing were a series of after-dark sessions on a small river using freeline cheese paste, and feeling for bites with line held between finger and thumb. The only problem sometimes is keeping your feet and hands warm between bites!

Edited December 14, 2005 by GLOBE

[peter mccue]

Can only agree with you all about after dark Winter Chubbing...it's brilliant.

 

Problem for me though was the betalight on the quiver knocked hell out of my eyes after a short while. In the end I didn't know whether the flaming thing was moving due to a bite or my imagination!

 

It was solved by putting the betalight onto a hangar & fishing it Carp style, much easier on the eye. I probably miss a few fish compared to globe holding the line, but to be fair the indicator usually flies rodwards leaving me in no doubt whatsoever.

[Guest rabbit]

I suspect the reason the chub feed better after dark in such clear water is that they feel more secure than in the day. I often find that the biggest fish comes in the dark.

 

You can buy various accessories to enable you to use a betalight, Starlight or mini battery light on your rod tip. However, it's very easy to make your own. I think someone posted a link to an illustrated article in the past. Budgie?

 

Luminous paint I haven't tried, but it doesn't work that well on floats.

Peter thanks for the replies..

 

First point...

 

I have read your article on winter fishing again, but this time every word!! I assume you penned this a few years back, although nothing changes from your approach then as to now. I was interested in your point regarding slack water being a better bet in cold water, this was something I had not considered, and thinking about my recent small success, these chub were hooked in the slack water.

 

Second point...

 

As far as baits are concerned I guess pellets were not so popular then? If so do you now use pellets / boilies as part of your attack? One of the advantages I would suggest with these baits is that you can use a wide flavour of dips as an extra attractor on the pellet. An ideal medium for the Braddocks flavours possbily?

 

and....

 

Thanks for sharing the science with us, especially gathered under such difficult conditions brrrrrrrr

[Gaz51]

A fantastic report rabbit, made good reading. Winter chubbing is something I've been meaning to do for some time but as usual, never get round to doing it.

I have to say though, reading your report and the subsequent posts has given me the impetus I need to have a go.

 

Thanks fellas, I'm going to have to give it a go.

[Steve Burke]

Yes, the article was written several years ago. In fact it first appeared in Carp Talk in the early days when it wasn't carp only.

 

As far as bait goes I still favour my old ones. One of the reasons I especially like bread is that you can very easily adjust the buoyancy so that you can get it to end up exactly where you want it. The only change is that I now try a wider range of additives, although still from Archie Braddock.

 

The other bait I'm definitely still keen on is whitebait, simply because dead fish are a natural bait, and hardly anyone uses them for chub. For this reason pellets or boilies wouldn't be my first choice.

 

Finally, I always have some worms with me as they'll catch anything, including my favourite perch.

[Jim Gibbinson]

Re. flow rates. I'm not a fan of slack water for winter chub, nor fast water. I look for water that is moving at something like slow walking pace. On very small rivers with lots of shallow runs, I like a reasonable depth, too.

 

Re. after dark fishing. In my younger (and dafter!) days I fished after dark in winter - an approach that produced my best-ever catch of big chub (R. Kennet). Nowadays I stick with daytime fishing - indeed, on the small overgrown chub rivers/streams I prefer, access to many spots is precarious enough in daylight, let alone in darkness. One relevant point about after-dark chubbing, though, is that they are more tolerant of disturbance - a small, tight swim that would die after a fish is caught in daylight will sometimes go on to produce two or three fish before it dies after dark. Strange that.

 

Re. baits. I like biggish meat baits best, especially if the conditions are relatively mild. Bread is probably my number-one bait if weather and water are particularly cold. In "scratching" conditions when even one bite qualifies as a "result", I favour worms (dendras).

[Guest rabbit]

A fantastic report rabbit, made good reading. Winter chubbing is something I've been meaning to do for some time but as usual, never get round to doing it.

I have to say though, reading your report and the subsequent posts has given me the impetus I need to have a go.

 

Thanks fellas, I'm going to have to give it a go.

Cheers Gaz, Steve's article got me fired up, those chub feed all weathers bless em!