Winter Chub.

The Monmouth & District Angling Society AGM was held on the Monday night, I planned to go fishing on the Tuesday.  As I was already in Monmouth and that the meeting would not finish before 10.30pm I made the decision a week before to spend the night in the van so I was ready at first light to go chubbing.  I did not realise the temperatures were going to plummet to -3 that night!  Chub fishing in cold weather does not deter me, sleeping in the back of a cold van does!  

However, id made the decision to stay over night and that was my plan.  I arrived in Monmouth a couple of hours before the meeting so I would have the opportunity to prebait half a dozen swims ready for the following day.  During the day I identified 6 swims that looked ideal chub sanctuaries and fed in 3 handfuls of mashed bread into each one.

The AGM was a success, featuring a slide show, a talk by invited guests and I became Chairman of the club.  Now the hard work starts, to increase members especially junior members and also the restocking of our rivers and lakes to improve the fishing.

I made sure I filled up on the buffet, a good spread laid on again, and I ate until I could eat no more, as I was about the spend the night in the back of a van in Arctic conditions.  My alarm went off at 5.45am and in the torch headlight I could see frost on the inside of the van roof, it must of been cold last night, i was glad of my 5 season sleeping bag.  I got dressed in the dim light of the torch as the sun was not up yet, then next job put the kettle on for a steaming cuppa.

The hot tea felt good as I rigged the rod up with a light link leger secured with a water knot leading to a size 6 hook which would hold a large lump of flake.  The sun was on the rise as i made my way to the frozen riverbank.

As I reached my first swim on the River Monnow I fed in another 2 handfuls of mashed bread then walked along the bank and topped up the swims I fed the previous evening.  Back in my original swim I baited with a large piece of breadflake then cast to an overhanging willow on the far bank.  Immediately I received taps on the light quiver tip, small fish probably, I waited for a more positive pull.  No pull materialised so I reeled in and rebaited again with bread flake.  The second cast resulted in the same response although the tip did pull round so I struck into my first fish, a plucky little chub around 10oz.  I caught another 2 chub between 8oz and 1lb, not the specimens I was fishing for.  I fished another 5 swims that morning with no luck.  This little river does seem to be a shadow of its former self, when a fish between 2-3lb was average, nowadays we struggle bites.

Unfortunately the laptop im using does not let me upload photos onto my blog so I will share them on twitter and facebook, including the incredible frosty dawn on that morning.

Ive also decided to write an e-book due out in 2014.  In 2004 I took a year off solely to fish for big fish and I had 8 PBs during that time and many first captures.  It was a great experience and one Id like to share.  Its not just about the big fish I caught, it will be also be about the characters, their stories and tales of fishing I heard during that time.  Its called Fishing the Dream, please look out for it in the new year.

Chevin Hell

When I look back through my old fishy pics theres one species that the photos doesn't do justice to and that's the Chub.  When I was younger I fished for chub almost exclusively for years and loved every minute of it, cutting my teeth on a tributary of the Wye, learning watercraft skills and various techniques to land a big Chevin.  I caught hundreds of them, highlighting in the landing of two 5lbers in the same season. 

This doesn't sound too ground breaking in the days of 7lb+ Chub regularly making the angling press, however from a small river 15 - 20 years ago it has always been one of my best PBs to date.  Unfortunately for me the age of the digital camera was a far distant invention and although my East German Praktica served me well over the years, self takes were a lottery and often resulted in out of focus shots, especially if I commandeered a dog walker to take the photo!

This was something I intended to put right over the last 12 months and I had hoped to have several decent Chub pics to share on my blog gallery, however this has not happened so far, as I  have struggled on every Chub session over the last year and today was no exception.

Hoping the Chub will feed as the light fades!

I started on a tributary of the Wye (Monnow) and fished several "chubby" looking runs and glides armed with bread mash as feed with breadflake and luncheon meat for hookbaits.  It was a very cold morning, although I felt I was fishing well, I couldn't muster a bite.  I decided to drive to a section of the Wye and dropped in on a few slack areas of the river, I used luncheon meat on the hook in the hope of a bonus Barbel, however it was not to be and I couldn't understand why.  Throughout the day I had fished swims that had a track record for Chub in the past, a good Chub pic is still eluding me.

On a more positive note, I recently won a competition on Twitter by Gadda Baits.  My prize was a selection of Pike baits from their range, and when I arrived home they were waiting for me in a well insulated box.  I have to say the baits were all still frozen solid and looked in perfect condition.  My bait freezer is looking healthy again and I can not wait to get out on the bank and use them for my planned winter Pike trips.  Anyone serious about Predator fishing check them out (Gadda Baits) they have a great range and a fantastic service.

Just a very small selection of my Gadda Baits prize

On the subject of Pike, If any fisherman are contemplating a trip to Blenheim Palace after an Esox then you might find my "Rough Guide" to Blenheim useful.  After fishing the lake for over 10 years Im putting a few pointers down on paper and it will be published on www.thebivvy.co.uk forum towards the end of January and will include photos.  To any anglers fishing such a big lake for the first time afloat, I hope it might help you get on some Pike.  If your lucky some bonus Perch.

Where have all the Chub gone!

After a productive meeting with my fellow market managers at lunchtime I was soon on my way to a tributary of the Wye hoping to winkle out a few Autumnal Chub.  I really enjoy catching them at this time of year, especially when the fiery orange Autumn sun catches their brassy flanks as you hold them up for a self take.
I chose to fish a stretch of the Monnow that I know intimately although I have not fished it for some years.  One of the reasons I chose to revisit this stretch is that during a conversation with Rob the bailiff a couple of weeks ago he mentioned how the fishing had declined, especially the Chub population, they dont seem to be there in the numbers they were a few years ago.   He explained how patchy the fishing was especially if you fished maggots or worms all you would hook were Brownies.  This seemed hard to believe, I wasn't doubting Robs recent experiences, however I would expect to of caught half a dozen Chub from this stretch a few years ago with relative ease due to the numbers of them.  This sounded like a challenge.



Spam and Bread - Classic

I drove over the small bridge that takes you into the car park, and this instantly brought back vivid memories of all the years I had spent on the river as a lad, stalking Chub in the height of summer, catching a mixed bag on the stick float and lure fishing for Pike, this was where I cut my teeth in river fishing and I learnt alot over those early memorable weekends.
I made my way to the first swim, a slower paced section with over hanging trees on a slight bend, it was one I could normally entice a bite or two.  I was armed with a medium feeder rod, feeder reel loaded with 6lb line, small feeder and a size 6 Drennan Specialist hook.  After all the Barbel fishing Ive been doing recently threading the eyes on the feeder rod felt like threading the eye of a needle with cotton, thin cotton! 
I mashed up a loaf of bread for the feeder and put a 50p sized breadflake on the hook.   I wouldn't normally use bread in the warmer months but I had the Spam as back up.



No one at home.

It looked ideal, big over hanging trees, the fallen leaves slowly making their way down river, the first cast was perfect, under the out stretched branches.  A couple of handfulls of mashed bread were fed slightly upstream and I sat back with the rod in the rest, the butt on my thigh and my finger on the line feeling for any indications.
In the background I could hear water cascading over a small broken weir downstream, a kingfishers high pitched call and about two hundred kids all trying to shout louder than the next one!  I had forgotten about the junior school on the  opposite bank which had obviously just broken for a break releasing what seemed hundreds of kids all rushing and screaming into the playground.  If there were any fish under those over hanging branches im sure it wouldn't of affected them, they hear this almost everyday and it probably bothered me more than the fish.
With no indications after over an hour it was time for a move.  I was travelling light, chair was left behind, I would sit on the unhooking mat, this made it so much easier to move around the river to try and find the fish.



Waiting for a bite.

I walked to a steadier section, not as deep, a nice long glide with several over hanging willow trees on the far bank.  My intention was to fish every 10-15 yards and fish for half hour at a time.  I put on a light leger, baited with luncheon meat and fed a few small balls of mashed bread into each swim just to try and get the Chub going.  After fishing a couple of swims I couldn't believe I was still fishless, I know this stretch like the back of my hand and ten years ago if you asked me to catch a chub I would of made a bee line for this stretch.  Surface activity was minimal too, just the odd dace breaking the surface.  I fed some floating crust and watched them travel the entire glide without any of them being harassed by anything sub surface.
As I waited for a bite I looked down to see 3 big slugs approaching my sliced bread, this was to be my final assault.  I retackled 6lb line straight through to a trusty size 6 and picked a nice sizeable black slug with the intention of rolling it under the over hanging willows.  After another half hour of constantly casting and rolling big fat slugs along the bottom, it started to spit with rain, and as I was travelling light I had no water proofs or brolly so I had to admit defeat.  I was scratching my head, perhaps it was one of those days the fish weren't feeding, however Rob had also struggled to land a Chub recently on a couple of trips.  After so many great memories of this stretch which include my PB Chub, my first river Carp, my PB Roach, it seemed that it was certainly in decline, this might seem harsh after just one session in many years away from the river, so I intend to return during the winter months to target the Chub again, when they will hopefully be shoaled up under those over hanging willows.