An Evenings Chub Fishing

[dant]

I've spent the last couple of evenings fishing a stretch of a Norfolk river that could'nt really of been designed any better for Chub.

Theres a weirpool 50yds or so upstream, the run off of which shallows up to around a couple of feet over gravel and narrows to around 10-15ft, with bull rushes and sedge on the far side and a highish undercut bank on the near. It then widens a touch and deepens to around 5 feet with a willow tree that has grown out into the river with overhanging branches that form a point mid river. Behind the branches is a large slack that sucks in most passing particles. The river then broadens to around 25ft and deepens again to near 7ft with all the flow on the near side as it runs past high overgrown undercut banks through a mature willow plantation.

I fished the corresponding time last year and the fields were a scorched yellow, the banks tinder and the river around a foot or to lower, very clear and the Chub extremely cagey. I had managed a few fish on floating crust between 2 and 5lb and then moved on to another stretch. This is genrally the manner in which to fish the river. It is by no means a x2 rods in rests, sack of Halibut Pellet kind of place. In fact the most high tech bait the river might of seen is my attempt to flavour an odd bit of luncheon meat with some tandoori powder. An unsuccessful attempt at that.

It is rare in fact to see any one else on the banks. Which makes for very peaceful and un-disturbed afternoon as I have 1/2 a mile of taylor made Chub river all to myself but a shame for the younger anglers as I'm sure they could learn some valuable lessons in the art of watercraft from fishing a stretch such as this.

As it stands now the river is in a completely different condition to the year before. Theres at least an extra foot or so which is holding a light colour and that rareity on this river, a brisk evenly paced flow.

The first part of each session had been spent 20 feet or so up various willow trees flicking bits of luncheon meat into various slacks and eddies and giving the area a scattering of hemp.

Whilst hanging from a paticularly precarious spot I had spied 3 or 4 Chub that had sent my pulse soaring. One of the fish look too unfathomably large to be a Chub and had me screwing my eyes behind my polaroids to try and work out if it was a small Common Carp but no, there was the rubbery white extension sucking in another piece of meat and Its 3 amigos were definatly on the plus side of 5 or 6lb's.

Alternating between bog standard luncheon meat and match box sized lumps of bread crust on a size 4, 3SSG link-ledgered with a short tail on 5lb line, Wednesday evening's fishing from the overgrown slack side of the Wilow brought around 5 Chub between 3lb and 5lb 1oz. A great return and around 2 or 3 times the usual from one spot on the river..

Thursday evening saw me fishing perched on a sandy flood hollowed undercut on the quicker side of the willow with the bank tight behind my head.

Again a run of fish to around 4lb's, more this time, maybe 7 or 8 fish.

Then at around 8.30 the tip tremored a little, stopped, tremoured again and stopped, then arched round. Then all hell broke loose as I struck. It was in the willows then out again, then in again, one minute my rod which at a rather acute angle was behind my ear, then under the water and so on and so forth until the fish subsided in the main flow. As it did so I mumoured to myself, 'thats a seven'. After another mini tussle at the net the fish slide in.

A quick phone call to a friend who lives down the road, brought him and his digital camera.

As I hoisted the net to the scales, I was surprised but not dissapointed to see the scales hit 7lb's with the net. 7oz's for the net gave me 6lb 9oz.

It's a PB by 3oz. But the 6lb 6 fish I'd had from another stretch of the same river was a good 4-5 inches shorther and an inch or so narrower across the head.

I was so utterly convinced that this fish was an easy, 7 on closer inspection it was easy to see why the fish hadn't attained the weight it's fin perfect, length warrented. It had no belly and felt hollow upon picking it up. It was a perfect, lean, wild Chub. No high protein overload for this fella.

I'm sure once October comes, after a Summer of plenty this fish will tip 7lb's. I'm sure it was one of the mob I'd seen earlier but whether it was the larger of the fish, I shan't know until I catch it..

 

I'm afraid the photos aren't of that high standard and don't really do the fish justice. It's rare that I bother to get fish photographed and as you can see I'm a bit rusty on the ol 'how to hold fish for the camera'.

 

Dan T

 

 

 

 

Heres a couple more...

 

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[Angly]

Lovely report and lovely fish!

 

My partner's mother lives 5 minutes from a small Norfolk river, and we were up there having a look last weekend. Very Chubby looking, so much so I'm considering the necessary annual ticket to fish that particular 3 mile section.

 

Geoff

[dant]

Thanks Angly..

 

There really are some lovely little sections of upper river round this way. The Wensum's the only one that has that premier fishery kind of look to it. But the others are equally as enchanting if you like that crawling around in stinging nettles, chest high in brambles kind of fishing.

 

It might be worth approaching the club in question as some will do day tickets for 4 or 5 quid.

[Anderoo]

Superb, well done! That'll be a good 7 come winter. The little river sounds perfect, places like that teach you more about fishing (real fishing that is!) than anywhere else.

[Mister Toad]

Nice report. It sounds idyllic.

Well done

[ndeezy]

Whoa, jealous! Great fish, need to get out for a bit of chubbing and soon. Congrats.

[wanzelbin]

That sounds so lovely. Cracking fish too. I've not been able to get out anything like as much as I'd hoped this summer, and that's really got me going. I feel a sickie coming on...

[dant]

Cheers guys.

 

It certainly was a Leuciscus Brutus. I think it'll be carrying some substantial extra weight come the Winter, if you look where I'm supporting the fish from the bottom theres hardly a bulge. The thickness of the fishes head was really something.

 

Went out his evening on my local river and had a Chub that went 5lb 2oz. It always amazes me with fish like this, that present a bonafide angling challenge, in numbers, I never seem to see a soul on the banks.

[Angly]

It might be worth approaching the club in question as some will do day tickets for 4 or 5 quid.

 

The stretch I looked at is annual ticket only, but a different club does control a stretch further downstream where day tickets are available. My partner’s mother was recently widowed, so we tend to pop up from London to see her about once a month...choices, choices. Perhaps I'll try the day ticket stretch first to see how I get on (it being some 15 years since I've last fished).

 

Geoff

[dant]

The stretch I looked at is annual ticket only, but a different club does control a stretch further downstream where day tickets are available. My partner’s mother was recently widowed, so we tend to pop up from London to see her about once a month...choices, choices. Perhaps I'll try the day ticket stretch first to see how I get on (it being some 15 years since I've last fished).

 

Geoff

 

 

Hi Geoff

 

If you don't know the area that well feel free to PM me if you like and I might be able to give you some handy info. I know most of the upper sections of river round these parts fairly well. The space of half a mile of river can make all the difference. These little rivers can go from narrow to wide and shallow to deep in a matter of yards.

20 yards downstream from where I caught the Chub in the picture and I could of remained fishless all evening.

 

Dan T