Chub Fishing on Lures

Gob of a predator!

Having spoken to my friend Mark Lindsay on various occasions about lure fishing for chub, we planned to venture out on one of our favourite little Southern rivers to have a crack at our grey-lipped opponents. I have caught chub on spinners, dry and wet flies, coupled with small softbaits, but was still yet to tempt one on a little hardbait. Mark, this season has had some great success on little plugs or crankbaits as they are known. Having picked up some little lures myself off the internet after previous discussions with Mark and reading a few pieces about chub on plugs, I was really looking forward to putting this method into practise.

The traffic was pretty horrendous on the way and having battled through it, I was eventually making my way to meet Mark on a nice section of the river which looked a perfect haunt to present the little lures. Mark was his usual confident self and it was not long until he had had a couple of attacks on his little crank bait. The given day was very bright and as expected, the chub were not in any mood to give themselves away for too long. Having wandered down many familiar hunting grounds Mark and I had gotten to know pretty well, one last area gave us a lot of hope to break the deadlock. Mark had managed at least one enquiry on every visit to this certain section. After having a few snatches from smaller chub on a steady run, one particular depression in the stream we knew had to be attacked. After a few casts and another enquiry from a smaller chub, I flicked the lure upstream and it appetisingly 'plopped' into the surface column of the water. With the effects of the ripples forming arcs on the surface, a dark shape emerged with a white vacuum coming into view, engulfing my lure. I tightened into the grey-lipped culprit and it soon made a dash for the snags within the swim. The fight was immense on the light lure tackle, consisting of some great final dashes before slowly guiding the  chub towards Mark who was kindly on hand to net it.

A fine summer chub which was up for hitting the lure!

With the bright sunlight persisting, we did sight a few more larger chub tight into the streamer weed, but it did prove challenging to tempt any interest with the lure. Having only arranged a short session, time was too getting on. As we roved our way back to the car, we had a few chublets, a trout and even a dace to add to our tally. It was certainly clear that these little lures that Mark had introduced me certainly had the tendency to trigger an aggressive response from a fair few species. It was good to have caught up with Mark for the first time in a while, and to have a really enjoyable introduction to fishing lures for chub.

As my mum had a few things to do in the area on the following day, she kindly offered to take me to the river again. Admittedly, I did try my luck, asking to go to another one of my favourite little rivers. After setting the route on the navigator, I was soon walking the banks of the second river. On arrival, it had to be the lowest and weediest I had seen it, but I knew I was still going to be in for a good chance of some perch and chub. I started using a little jig for the perch and was soon catching some exquisite little sergeants (perch) which were like peas in a pod. After seeing some very inviting deeper holes, I could not resist going into the lure box and digging out the same lure I'd had the chub on the day prior. On the first cast I aimed for some overhanging foliage, and it was not long until a good chub came into view and investigated my lure before deciding against it. My excitement levels hit the roof. On my next cast, the lure yet again landed on the surface with a very appetising 'plop' and a smaller chub shot out and hit the lure. It was a stunning fish of a pound or so and certainly a worthy sign that the chub's aggressive instincts were in tact on the given day. Following this, I fished a few spots catching some smaller chub and missing a couple of good fish (some over 4lbs) in a particular pool swim. In the end, the roving approach, keeping casting to minimum, in each spot payed dividends when I managed to connect with a slightly better fish of round the 2lb mark.

A lovely looking little chub on the lure!

I decided on the remainder of the trip to go back to the jigs again and a few more stripy culprits were on hand to add to the session. Overall, it had been a lovely couple of days fishing before having to return to work in the week. Thanks goes to Mark for the introduction to chub on lures!

Tight lines,

Tom

More Perch on the Lures

The tell-tale sergeant stripes!

From my recent blog, I'm sure many of you have gathered that I have slightly got the lure bug! Having picked up a few new lures and jigheads on the internet, I was dying to give them a try in some of the nice swims I had found. I decided on the first trip to go and try a couple of spots that in the past I have sighted some absolute monster perch. On the first stretch, I had a good follow from a good-sized perch, but unfortunately this was the only action that was to be had on the particular section. Having brought worms with me too, I decided on one of the more familiar stretches to try and twitch one in the path of a perch. I imagined with the conditions in front of me this was certainly going to be pretty deadly. Having arrived at a particular swim, I spotted three perch. I attached a split shot on the hooklink, and casted just above them and twitched the worm into their sight. The biggest one which looked a good pound or so started to move for it, but in a millisecond I saw one of the smaller perch push ahead and grab it themselves. It was nice to have managed another pretty perch in these difficult conditions and decided it was time to go home as I had a job induction the following day.

This one took a liking to a juicy worm!

The following session was a morning session, the day after my induction, and I felt confident having had a few natural-coloured lures arrive, that it was definitely worth another shot on the lures. The beginning of the session proved challenging, but eventually a single perch gave itself away, was there any of those better fish lurking which I had been sighting on sessions prior? On one particular cast I went a bit tighter to the streamer weed and let the lure sink down a bit more. I slowly retrieved the it, covering the past kill zones and out of nowhere a good perch appeared and absolutely devoured my natural-coloured lure. After an initial crazy burst of energy and plenty of sprints, a good perch graced the surface. I nervously reached for my net and managed to safely net it. Although it didn't look much longer than the 1lb 7oz perch I had prior, it's build was on a slightly better level and I knew it was at least creeping towards 2lbs. After quickly putting it on the scales, my face lit up when I saw the dial hovering between 2lbs and 2lb 1oz. It was great to have had a perch of this stamp as it has been years since I've had anything from this waterway of that similar stamp.

A stunning 2 pounder!

I continued the day, managing another smaller perch and disappointingly losing a good pike, which absolutely tore line off my little reel and had my light lure rod buckled over. The day was an overall success though, as I had achieved my little target of a fish around the 2lb stamp. It was certainly encouraging though, as this fish was certainly not the biggest I had seen on my trips so far, so will be nice to get out and target a few more fish of this stamp sometime soon!

Tight Lines,

Tom Aldous

Return to the River Wye...

Rods out!

At a week or so's notice, my dad ran an idea past me. His partner suggested a day's canoeing on the River Wye, and at the same time there was potential for me hitching a ride for a day's fishing. Hastily, I started to check out potential fishing locations around the area and with the help of a reasonably local and all-round fishing guide, Kenny Parsons, I organised myself a permit. As the day of the trip neared, Kenny was kind enough to impart his knowledge of the stretch specifically and gave me a key area to target. I have to admit, I did start the day with a very pessimistic outlook leaving late and having to pick up lunch en route as opposed to doing so the night before, so the time of arrival was around lunchtime. I was rather disorientated when I arrived, but after having a quick chat with Kenny on the phone, who reassured me I was heading in the right direction, I was soon in the right area.

On arrival at the swim, I mixed up my 'hemp and hali crush' groundbait and assembled all the necessaries. Once I was happy with the consistency of the groundbait and had tied myself an ideal rig with a nice and long fluorocarbon hooklength, I was ready to make my first cast of the day. Admittedly, it was not quite on the money, but as I placed my rod on the tripod (which I borrowed courtesy of Simon Daley) I felt a lot calmer and ready to focus. My choice of hookbait was the slick sense baits from West Country, which have a very pungent smell and renowned for catching big barbel consistently, which certainly gave me confidence. I had literally got to the point where I was tying a hooklink up on the other rod and I had a good bang on the tip. My adrenaline levels hit the roof. As I was going to start the whipping of the knotless knot for the hooklink, the rod suddenly smacked over with a 3ft twitch and the tightly done freespool started to zip off. I lifted into a definite barbel. The fish went straight upstream and hung nice and low. The muscular lunges were unmistakable as I started to bring the fish under control. With the Wye consisting of many boulders, I knew I had to keep the fish's head up as best as I could with the perils of getting cut off. It was fair to say my adrenaline was going through the roof as the fish approached what I call the deadly region, under the rod tip. After some amazing wallows and nasty dashes for the depths, I had my first barbel of the day safely reviving in the net. It was a definite Wye PB and a stunningly proportioned and coloured fish, a pure powerhouse! I gave the fish a good few minutes to revive whilst setting up all necessaries for getting a quick picture and wetting and zeroing the sling. After quickly getting a few snaps and putting her on the scales, I waded out and held her close until she was ready to kick off.

A fine proportioned barbus (6-7)

What was to follow after this was heaps of canoeists! Including my dad and co. After having my rigs taken out by people on canoes twice and losing a chub, I re-tied a couple of hooklinks. After getting the downstream rod out and a fresh bait going in, I sorted out some fresh baits. Both rods were soon back in action. As I was tidying a few things in my tackle box, I heard my freespool absolutely scream off with the rod buckled over. Another barbel was on! After another incredibly powerful series of lunges a stunning barbel topped. After several sprints and wallows on the surface another powerhouse was in the net.

Another stunningly proportioned little powerhouse!

I continued casting on a fifteen minute basis to keep building the swim with the feeder and within the second cast in this cycle, the rod knocked aggressively. I picked the rod up and knew I had a chub on. The fight was certainly spirited for the heavy tackle and it was great to have landed this one. After taking a quick shot, I continued the cyclical routine of building the swim with the feeder. At this moment in time, the canoeists were coming in short bursts and were starting to die down by the time I had an hour to start packing up.

Nice to see rubber lips make an appearance!

Just as I was starting to think about packing up, I decided to have one more recast. This cast was on the money and I knew I was in for a good chance of another bite. With the confidence boost of putting a fresh bait on, I sat and waited whilst the feeder was working the magic with the cloud of attraction. Shortly after getting my other rod out just upstream, the downstream rod absolutely buckled over and line started to tear out. I lifted into another barbel. Like the first one, this fish hung low in the middle channel and really lunged about with all its might. Another amazing fight under the rod tip was to follow and after some fantastic wallows on the surface, the third barbel of the trip was in the net. At 6lb 1oz, it was a nice barbel to have landed at what was the first proposed time I had to pack up.

Another absolute muscle machine (6-1)

With what already had felt like a great trip, considering I had been there for the afternoon, I did not pass by the opportunity given to me by my dad to carry on for another hour, despite the fact I was already effectively packed up. After tying a new rig up and taking care to put on a nice fresh bait, I casted another feeder which went straight on the money in a bomb of feed. Just as the feeder settled and the rod was placed on the tripod, I watched the tip. With the canoeists now gone, it was a great opportunity for maybe another fish to make an appearance, I thought. Right on queue the line tightened with the rod absolutely slamming over 3 foot twitch style! As I lifted into it, I felt a good weight. But as I started to apply pressure, it felt as if I was wedged in a boulder. I wound a little and pulled the weight upstream, it started to move! It was then that I knew I may have hooked something perhaps, a bit more substantial. The fish made a dash upstream, using all its body mass. I applied as much pressure as I could, as there were many potential nightmares with the plentiful boulders in the river. The fish would not show itself and remained effectively clung to the bottom. After some heart-stopping lunges towards deeper water as she neared, the vortex of a good fish emerged. The line continued to weave vigorously as she neared, and my feeder started to swing into view. The typical shark fin soared on the surface and a large mouth emerged, before wallowing and tearing line out of the drag. After some very nerve wracking final lunges and dives, a good head popped up to the surface before being safely netted. I could tell with the way this barbel filled the bottom of my net that I had landed a new Wye personal best and certainly a fish that could even tip my own. I managed to find a perfect place to revive her whilst I sorted out my scales and photography equipment. As I gently carried the barbel to the sling it felt a fair bit heavier than the others. When I put her on the scales, I looked in disbelief as I saw the scales swing straight over 10lbs and settling on 10lb 4oz. 'Wow', I gasped as I gently carried the fish back into the water and rested her again. Once the camera gear was all sorted I managed to get a few decent shots of this fine creature!

What a way to end the session, a new PB Barbel at 10lb 4oz!

After sorting out the final shots, I waded out and waited for the fish to confidently kick a few times. She did so rather quick, and what a sight it was to see such a stunning fish disappear back into the depths of this stunning river. The time had now come to start packing up and shortly after, setting off for home. It was an enjoyable session all-round and thanks goes to my dad for the transport and his partner for organising the canoeing which gave me the opportunity to fish! Thanks also goes to Kenny Parsons for giving me a great insight of tactics needed and imparting his knowledge of many years of pioneering on this magic river, which really helped with the little time I had on the day itself.

For those that don't know Kenny has a guiding service where he is bookable for a day's fishing for many of people's desired species! His website is definitely worth checking out here:
http://www.kpanglingguide.com

Tight Lines,

Tom Aldous

Perch Fishing on Lures

Perfect haunt for Predators

After my new lure rod arrived, I was itching to head back out on the river to have another go for some of the stunning perch. After a day or so of bright and humid weather, a more overcast day motivated me to get out, as it was likely the perch would be on the prowl. The areas I had in mind consisted of a couple of darker and deeper patches of water, where I had sighted a fair few perch on a couple of occasions this summer, whilst walking the rivers. I started off in a few familiar swims and tried to get a feel for the new lure rod. I felt that extra precision and finesse in my retrieve and was hopeful that if I spotted a perch, I could agitate it into taking my jig. I opted to try the same micro pattern as my previous session, as they have an immense action through the water. After trying a few likely looking areas, I found myself in the zone which was a lot quieter and shadier, a perfect haunt for predators. After retrieving a few times in the deep hole with one less than decisive grab, I decided to try the near margin. With the aid of a simple flick cast and a nice short rod, I managed to get the lure nice and deep into the cover. As the lure hit the bottom, I slowly started to retrieve, and as I started to put a bit of a twitch from the rod tip into the retrieve, the lure got absolutely devoured. I tightened into the fish and saw that I had a lovely looking perch on. In typical river perch style it gave a great account of itself on the light lure rod.

A vividly coloured chalkstream perch!

It was great to see the perch go back strongly into the crystal clear water, and I knew that it would definitely be worth trying the deeper hole upstream. After working the pool, a nice perch came into view. I flicked my jig into its path and slowly tweaked it into its view. Without hesitation the perch snatched the lure and I was into a slightly better stamped fish. Following a great scrap, another vividly looking perch was in the net. This fish weighed it at 1lb 7oz which was actually bigger than I thought. After watching yet another fine-looking perch swim resiliently back into its watery home, it was time to go home for a spot of lunch.

A vividly coloured River Perch!

I decided a few days later to head out for another attempt at these quite elusive perch. The conditions were, again, nice and overcast and looking good for a perch or two. Several hours were spent this session struggling to tempt them on the lure of choice and finding the right opportunity to present the lure in their path. After a fair bit of pioneering and thinking, I decided to cut my lure down to a smaller size to accommodate for their finicky mood. It did take a while though to get the perfect scenario to present the lure, but once it came, it was quite a bizarre sight to witness. A pack of five perch were lined up and attacking a little eel that was burying its way into the silt. After casting the lure into their path and jigging it to agitate them, with the paddle tail convulsing in an appetising fashion, one eventually decided they had had enough and struck! After another very spirited battle another stunning river perch graced the net.

Stunning colours!

As I decided to work my way back, I decided to squeeze my way into a very dark and shaded swim. I casted the lure down stream and started to work it steadily with the odd twitch. Just as I saw the lure coming into view, I saw another pretty perch following. I slowed the retrieve and had yet another hit! Another spirited scrap followed and a very boldly coloured and proud perch I quickly admired in the water before unhooking her in the water. This one was in great condition and the colours again failed to disappoint.

It was really enjoyable to have gotten into some lure fishing with thanks going to some good mates for their helpful advice on this discipline within the sport.

Tight Lines,

Tom Aldous