Decided to try for some chub before the end of the river season. One of the things I miss about not fishing the rivers is catching proper chub, since those you catch in commercials just aren't the same.
The destination was my club stretch of the Avon at Reybridge, which is on the opposite bank of Lacock. The intention was to fish the float for most of the day feeding caster & hemp, with either caster or maggot on the hook. A lead rod was also set up to fish either hair rigged meat or maggot/caster. The expectation was the proper chub wouldn't show until late in the day, which was confirmed when I had a chat with a regular. As such I didn't arrive until late morning.
The river itself was quite clear, being able to see about 2 foot down, but there are plenty of deep runs and wasn't overly concerned despite the bright conditions.
The first swim which was a deep glide running towards some overhanging trees was tried for an hour without any bites.
Setting up at the second swim, I nearly ended up in the river, as I slipped down the bank and kept going. Fortunately I halted by slide on a narrow shallow shelf, but not before getting a little damp! The second swim on a deep corner produced mainly roach, a couple of dace and a 4oz chub, mostly on the float. After an initial burst of catching, the fish soon backed off and I had to wait longer between fish.
I had a good look around for my 3rd swim, eventually settling on a long run, which was shallower along the far bank. But the main reason for choosing the swim was the sunken tree stump down the inside which I felt sure would hold a few fish. As with the 2nd swim I had an initial burst of fish, a few roach, but mostly dace this time, plus a couple of gudgeon and minnows.
With an hour to go and the light fading the hoped for chub still had turned up and since I couldn't get a bite on the float, decided to sit it out on the lead. 2 hits on meat, but no fish had me swapping to triple maggot. Just as I was considering leaving there was a couple of taps on the tip, which I thought would be from small fish, but no a chub was definitely hooked, but after a few seconds, I felt the hooklength grating against the sunken tree stump and the fish was gone. It felt like a 2-3lb fish.There was just enough light to retie a hooklength and within a couple of minutes, a couple more "small fish" taps I struck and connected with another fish, but this one felt bigger. I managed to pull it away from the snag, but it just stayed deep and as I got it under the rod tip, it started moving upstream. Because it was now quite dark, I wasn't sure how far upstream the fish had gone, but knew I had to stop it making a snag and unfortunately something gave way and the fish was lost. Really gutted, because that fish was either a very big chub or possibly a barbel, but will never know.
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