Back on the Rivers at last!

On the 16th this year, my friend Hannah asked me if there was any chance I could take her fishing, therefore we pencilled in taking on some chub for the glorious 16th - I thought this would be good fun as it is was the opening day and there was a chance of tempting a few. We arrived as expected, at a low and clear river, spotting plentiful dace, chublets and trout. Early on in the session we managed a few bites, with me losing a trout as well as both of us being a bit slow when we noticed the tip pulling round on a better bite. This first hour or so was slow, but not feeling disheartened, I knew there was a place above where we could get onto a few decent chub.

We arrived and stopped in a nice swim with a side stream entering the main river forming a confluence. I decided to have a quick go just to see if we could get off the mark and to demonstrate to Hannah reacting to the bites. It wasn't long until I had a delicate, but steady pull round and the culprit was this fine conditioned river roach - a very nice start to the season.

A nice start to the season

After travelling a few yards downstream to spot a few nice chub skulking around in a nice slack area. I knew this was a perfect opportunity for Hannah to catch her first fish of the day, as there were a few fish congregating together with the biggest looking round 4lbs. The hook bait we chose to use was a nice strong smelling piece of cheddar cheese which was positioned nicely on the gravel where the chub could see it. It wasn't long until a good chub picked up the bait and Hannah was into a good sized chub for the river. In typical chub style it accelerated into the nearest snag and buried it's head straight in the weed bed, but with a bit of steady pressure and me going in, I managed to get the net beneath it. "Jheeze Louise, that is big!" were Hannah's words, filled with triumph, as I revived it in net. The chub weighed a good 3lb 14oz, a proper stocky fish and after taking this quick shot it was nice to see the fish swim off resiliently.

3lb 14oz

I noticed there were still chub circling round the area, so I threw some mashed bread in to draw the group back in. It wasn't long until I saw some chub slowly swimming towards the area cautiously. A few minutes passed and I saw another fish swim to the hook bait and slurp it in. This was met by a confident strike and Hannah was enjoying another nice tussle from a chub. Although it was a smaller fish, it was another nice result with a big smile on Hannah's face.

The chub now had backed off I spotted a few dace in the shallows. I put a small lobworm on the hook and handed the rod to Hannah and it wasn't long until she hooked a nice dace, her first of the species and we admired the perfect silver flank on it. We carried on downstream onto a shallower gravel run where I had landed a few chub off the surface in the past. I waded in with my wellies and gently let a bit of crust float downstream. It wasn't too long until the bait was engulfed and I was now into a nice looking chub. After some desperate lunges towards vegetation, I managed to guide the chub into the net. We both agreed that the fish was in great condition and the brassy enamelling on it was absolutely gorgeous.

Pristine chub off the top

After restraining a pair of psychotic dogs of which their owner could not control and walking a bit downstream, we both decided it called for a bit of lunch. I thought it was a worthy call to park in a deeper area and sit behind the rod whilst slowly polishing off my sandwich and sharing bites landing some nice trout. After we had finished lunch I noticed a few nice chub lying by the tree and after gently lowering the cheese into the path of the fish, I had a nice confident bite and landed this nice chub.

Nice chub caught on the ambush!

The rest of the day was enjoyed landing plenty of trout, dace and smaller chub and walking along the banks of the beautiful small Thames Tributary and sharing a good laugh, a very enjoyable day out and great sport from some wily chub!

An enjoyable day out!

Tight Lines,

Tom