Boilies and bolt rigs for big chub

[Anderoo]

As BobH is posting I thought I'd open up this topic again! It's not something I've ever tried, but I would love to hear more about the hows and whys of bolt-rigging boilies for big chub. Advantages? Disadvantages? Interesting stories?

 

[BobH]

Anderoo

 

Could I please add a plug for a Book compiled by the Osprey Specimen Group and published by Calm productions, costing £25.00, all profits going to Cancer Research UK.

 

The book is a tribute book to my friend Simon King who lost his life to Cancer this time last year, in which I detail the rigs and methods used by us to catch Chub of 7.4, 7.9, 8.6, 8.9, 8.14 and 9lbs, that we caught in the winter season of 2012/13.

 

Not only does it cover our Chub fishing in the last year of Simon's life, there are contribution from some of the best specimen anglers around, which details the up's and downs we all face when targeting big fish.

 

www.calmproductions.com

 

Bolt rigging for Chub would not be my number one favourite way of fishing for Chub, I far prefere to trot, touch leger or free line for the species, but if there is no alternative, then bolt rigged Boilies or Pellets can reap huge rewards for those who are willing to put in the time and effort.

 

My rigs are modified Carp rigs, with enough lead and back leads to keep every thing pinned down to the river bed in heavy flood conditions, incorporated into this was the use of a good boilies which were aired dried and an Owner Circle Hook with the barb pinched in.

 

Every thing else came down to Location, Location and lots of time, I caught my first 7lb Chub back in 2002 and it took Simon and I, 10yrs to finally get that 8lb Chub we so desired.

 

Bob

Edited September 10, 2014 by BobH

[Tigger]

I'd say the hardest thing about catching large chub (much like any other specimen fish) is finding a water that contains them. Is that what you meant about location, location Bob, or did you mean location on the actual water, or both ?

 

If using a bolt rig Andrew i've found an ultra short hooklength and either the bait fished directly on the hook or hair rigged so it's actually flush with the bait. Chub are experts at mouthing the bait and pulling it from hairs without even touching the hook. When using boilies I found that half a 10 mill boilie hair rigged so as the flat side is against the hook worked best. Jmo findings and not written in stone of course .

[Steve Walker]

The one time I tried hair rigging for them, I got the same issue.

[BobH]

Tigger

 

I meant both really, the Lea Valley has a number of sections that hold Huge Chub, the Fisher Green area being a prime example, but it's a big piece of water, if you take the Old River starting at Kings Weir which continues into the Fisher Green Consortium section which then joins the Relief Channel going in one direction to Holyfields Weir and in the other to Waltham Abbey and there is also a side stream called Cornmill Stream that comes off the main Relief Channel.

 

It's a lot of water and the Chub are very nomadic, the Chub we caught in 2013 on the Relief Channel were being captured miles away on the Old River in 2012, so finding these fish is not easy, as an example, I had seen the Big Chub ( the British River Record ) in the close season (2012) on the LAA section of the Old River, but it turned up in the in the Relief Channel in February 2013.

 

There is a huge amount of water in the Lea Valley where some of these chub take up residence that is not fishable, then they suddenly reappear, the 8lb 6ozs Chub that Simon caught, was a completely unknown chub to us, it could have been living in ERDE for years and then just swam up the Cornmill Stream, a known spawning area of the chub in the river.

 

Dobby (I know, I know, I hate naming fish) the one time Record holding Chub has miles of Lea Navigation and back waters where it could hide for years because there is little or no access to the back waters, so finding the fish is not that easy.

 

And of course there are the Signal Crayfish to contend with, the Lea Valley is full of them, in plague proportions in some areas, soft baits don't stand a chance, lasting only a few minutes in such areas, so there you have the quandary, on one hand you would like to fish for the chub using traditional methods, but on the other hand, location and crayfish limit your options.

 

Of course over the years the experience Chub anglers build up a picture in their minds as to where these huge fish might turn up, but that's the trick really, these areas are numerous and it's only by a process of elimination that you find the really big Chub.

 

As for the rigs, I caught them on varying hooklengths, from very short to very long, the only thing in common, they all used covered braids to help stop the crayfish biting off the hair and the most successful size boilies was 20mm, these were air dried, again in the hope off keeping a bait in the water a little longer and away from the attentions of the Crayfish.

 

There is no doubt in my mind that the Crayfish are the main reason for the size of the Chub in the Lea Valley and that applies to the Perch as well.

 

Bob

Edited September 10, 2014 by BobH

[Tigger]

Interesting stuff Bob....crackin' pic .

[BobH]

Just to wet the appetite of those who fish for Big Chub.

 

Simon's 8lb14ozs Chub

 

Edited September 10, 2014 by BobH

[Steve Walker]

That is an animal.

[BobH]

Yes Steve,

 

It's the same Chub that holds the River Record at 9lbs 3ozs, but was slightly down in weight at 8lbs 14ozs, it had a length of 24 inches and a girth of 171/2 inches, it truly was a fantastic fish.

 

Bob

[viney]

That is an unreal sized chub! Would love to see one in the flesh (or scales should that be?)