I’m lucky to live just 10 mins from the Warwickshire Avon, and some of my favourite sections are around the village of Barford. It’s a venue I fish in competitions throughout the season, but I also enjoy many hours fishing here with a more specimen roving approach. Often I can grab a couple of hours fishing before work in the morning or in the afternoon / evening.
The target species for this approach are typically chub and barbel, and I’ve caught plenty of specimen sized fish of both these species here over the years. I find this type of fishing really engrossing, so simple but very effective.
Today I’ve got Chappy the cameraman with me, and we’re going to have a quick chub fishing session on bread.
After the long dry summer we’ve just experienced, the Avon is about as low as I’ve ever known. The barbel fishing has been tough, whilst the chub fishing held up well. If possible, targeting them in the morning or evening has definitely resulted in better catches and as the river is so low and clear, a more mobile and stealthy approach has been most successful. This style of fishing allows you to pick one or two fish out of a swim before moving on to the next one.
Chub love cover, especially in the low and clear conditions we are experiencing today. The river in this area has swims packed with features, and these are the type of pegs I’m targeting today. I’m travelling light with just my CR10 12ft 1lb Specimen rod, landing net, small tackle box and a loaf of bread, it’s very liberating! Indeed, humping loads of gear along the bank in these situations isn’t much fun and makes you more inclined to stick to one swim, which is not the aim of the game.
Once I’ve selected a swim to fish, I like to carefully get into position, using any bank side trees or reeds as cover. It’s easy to spook the chub on small rivers like this, especially in these conditions. This swim has great cover on the inside, with a tall reed bed and overhanging tree on the far bank.
I’m going to free line bread on this swim as I’m fishing close to the bank and want to present the bread hook bait as naturally as possible. Before I cast out, I like to feed a few pieces of soaked bread into the swim. To soak it, I simply put a slice of bread in my landing net, wet it, then squeeze the bread to make it sink. This allows me to throw the bread into the swim and attract the chub out from their hideaways.
When the river is low like this I think bread is a brilliant bait, it’s very visible to the chub, and it’s a bait the chub love to eat.
The best way to catch chub on free lined bread is watching the chub take the bait, it’s so exciting! However, because of the reed cover on this peg I can’t see into the water where I’m casting, so I need to improvise. I’m using the quiver tip top on my CR10 12ft 1lb TC Specimen rod with the 2oz tip. This will easily allow me to see and feel any bites when I’m free lining.
Hook bait is a decent piece of bread presented on a size 6 hook. I squeeze the bread onto the hook and then dunk it in the river to absorb some water. This way, the bread won’t float, but sinks slowly and enticingly through the water. This size of bread and the fact it’s wet will provide enough weight to gently cast it into position without any other weight on the line, perfect!
Third cast, and I’m rewarded by a good bite and a chub is hooked. As you can see, it’s a peg with plenty of snags, and I need to play the chub hard to stop it snagging me up. Our CR10 12ft Specimen rods are perfect for this type of fishing as they have a lovely progressive action with plenty of power. It means I can really pull into the chub and apply maximum pressure without the fear of breaking the line or a hook pull. The 1lb version is my choice when fishing smaller rivers like the Avon. I’ll use a heavier 1.25 or the 1.5lb versions on bigger rivers or when the Avon is up. The rods are supplied with two top sections and are really versatile.
Reward is a nice chub about 2.5lb, time to move on to another swim
This pegs main feature is a sunken tree on the far bank. In this situation, I’m going to add a small link ledger with 3 x AAA shot to enable me to keep my hook bait in position next to the tree. I’m still using some inside reeds as cover to hide behind and gently cast the link ledger and bread hook bait into position.
The Rig
3 x AAA pinched onto a loop of line, creating a paternoster about 20 cm long.
Snap swivel running on the mainline and stopped by a gripper stop.
Hook length is about 1 m from the hook to gripper stop.
I like to hold the rod when I’m fishing like this as I can feel for bites as well as see them on the tip. Also, I can move the bait by gently pulling the weights and bouncing the bait through the peg. It’s a deadly way of fishing, and I’ve hooked another nice chub from next to the sunken tree.
In normal conditions with more flow and some colour, it’s often possible to catch a few chub like this out of one swim. However, as the river’s so low with bright conditions, the disturbance caused by playing and landing the chub has spooked the other chub in the swim. It’s better to move to another swim and repeat the process.
Now this is a challenging swim! It’s a high bank with plenty of vegetation on the inside and a good tree for cover on the far bank. By gently feeding some soaked bread, I can see a shoal of chub feeding next to the tree. Time to switch back to free lined bread and see if I can extract a chub from its lair.
I managed to tempt one and saw it take the free lined bread as it was sinking through the water, Polarising sunglasses really help with this. It’s a hairy few moments as the chub tries to snag me up, but I manage to net it.
Tackle
Rod and Reel
CR10 12ft Specimen 1lb TC
CS10 4000 Reel
Mainline
Edge Tackle 8lb Specimen Mono. I like using a robust and strong reel line when roving for chub. I’ve caught chub over 5lb from this stretch, and they really test your tackle! I’ve been using this new reel line for the last 12 months and really like it. Although it’s seriously strong and tough, it’s still nice and supple and allows me to free line bread easily.
Hook link
Edge Tackle 6lb Premium Mono (0.18mm). This low diameter and clear line is great when fishing in challenging clear conditions like today.
This really is an exciting way to catch chub and during today’s short session I’ve managed to catch five nice chub up to 3lb in very challenging conditions. I feel sure that a more static approach may only have produced a couple of fish at best.
Fishing clubs that offer fishing in this area on the Avon
Barford AA: paulking@blueyonder.co.uk
BAA – Wasperton section: www.baa.uk.com
Leamington AA – Wasperton section: www.leamingtonangling.co.uk
