Hampshire Avon and more big chub

The Avon and Stour are two rivers that produce some lovely chub and the average size is really good. As most of you know I been chasing a 7lb chub from the Avon for years. Getting close a few times and the largest going 6lbs 13oz.

So after my previous blog where I saw that 7lb chub it was to this swim I headed for my next session. Armed with 6 pints of maggots and about the same of hemp it was my plan to fish the feeder.

The journey down was about 90 minutes which is about normal. I arrived to find a heavy dew and a cloudless sky. The temperature had dropped since my last visit however I didn’t think it would effect the fishing. We though had some rain over the previous few days, not much (18mm) but enough to put some colour into the Bristol Avon.

Arriving at the 7lb swim it was noticeable how the river had come up about 8″ and there was a tinge of colour. Worst still the amount of weed coming down was substantially more then my last visit. Never mind I would start to bait drop maggot and hemp into the swim and get the chub feeding. I couldn’t see the gravel bar where the chub sit because of the early morning start and the colour of the water. The sun started to rise as I put the bait in. This was done at 30 min intervals.

I did a little trotting while the swim was rested. This time I was using bread flake on the size 12 hook. First swim I came to I hooked a chub that took me into a snag. Again I was taken by surprise as it was my first trot of the day and I hadn’t had a clue what the depth was or anything. I really must learn from this.

I couldn’t move too far from the tackle as there was a herd of cows in the field and I didn’t want them trampling my tackle.

Anyhow after 90 minutes I thought it about time I could cast into the swim. the tackle was 6lb main line and a black cap feeder a size 18 hook and 4lb hooklink material. I’m using a new hooklength line that’s called STROFT GMT it’s very supple and has a low diameter. The line I was using is 0.12mm and has a breaking strain of 1.8kg (just under 4lbs).  I use the next size down which is about 3lb b/s and the diameter is 0.1 which is great. Thanks a million to Andy in Scott tackle for introducing me to it.

The rod is a Korum river quiver rod which has a very soft action and is just right for light lines. Great value too.

Well I cast out and within 2 minutes I had a few line bites on the rod tip then it rattled and shot over. Chub on! It tried to get into the upstream weed, the rod pulled around and slowly the chub came back and then swam into the deep pool where it could do whatever it wanted as it’s slacker water and I knew it would be mine in a short while. There is no need to bully the fish at this stage as providing there are no snags then all is good. Soon a very nice chub was in the net. Not the 7lber however one of the smaller chub at 5lbs exactly.

Exactly 5lbs

Great the method works and the chub are at home. However the floating weed was a problem but not impossible. I put in some more feed and waited a while and recast. And that was it I sat there for 3 hours casting regularly but not another touch came my way. Why had it all gone wrong? Perplexed by this lack of action I thought I would move and perhaps return later.

This 3 hours of none action was playing on my mind as I moved stretches of river looking for chub. However what was much worst was the amount of floating weed increased and the colour of the water was making it impossible to see into some of the deeper swims. I moved around so much and just couldn’t settle. I was still questioning what went wrong in the 7lb swim.

Finally it got to the last 2 hours of the day and I had to settle in a swim. The weed was making it difficult to feeder fish so I decided to float fish. I couldn’t fish the swim I wanted as someone had moved in for the last couple of hours. So I settled in a swim where last November I had some great chub from there. Largest two were 6lbs 9oz and 6lbs 10oz caught in the same evening session.

So I started catapulting red maggots upstream so that they drifted down to where the chub would be laying up. I knew there were plenty in the swim as I had seen them before. However the wind would make presentation difficult. The height of the river needed to be 2ft higher however there was sufficient flow for the maggots to move through the swim creating that competition feeding from the chub that’s so important. I was using 3lb STROFT line and a size 20 Drennan Super Specialist and a 2 swan shot loafer float.

I wasn’t confident however having fed the swim for 20 mins it was time for the first cast. Bingo, first trot down the float shot under and I was playing a chub. There was slack water on the far side of the swim but the chub just stayed in mid river. It wasn’t a big fish however as least they feeding. On the bank it was just shy of 4lbs. I then continued feeding the maggots in on every trot through and soon another chub of just over 4lbs was landed. I was now in the last hour of fishing and still catapulting out the maggots when the float shot under and another chub of similar size was landed. It looked like the larger fish were not in the swim.

Still the maggots went in. I reckon on feeding about 1 pint each hour on average when float fishing. The float shot under again and the chub was banging away with it’s tail in the current and straight away I knew it was a much better fish. It certainly knew where the small weed beds were as it got me into two of them, however they are quite soft and the chub came out with a little persuasion. I caught sight of it as they normally come to the surface and I thought it’s a 6lber.

I get all excited when the line starts singing in the wind and a big chub is on the other end. However concentration is required as it only takes a flick of the tail and a lunge by the chub to have a hook pull. None of this happened this time and a big chub lay in the net.

5lbs 14oz

The sun was just setting as I took the photo and I had just another 30 mins of fishing time left. Sadly no others came along, so a very strange day for me.

The 7lb swim was an enigma for me as I should have taken a few more chub from there. Never mind that’s why it’s called fishing and not catching!