Chubbin

With the evenings starting to draw out and an early finish at work there was time for me to get to the river for a short evening session after Chub.  It’s actually the first time I’ve been on the river for over a month in which time it has mostly been above the banks on which all but the stoutest vegetation had been flattened.  The evening was mild and dull with barely a breath of wind, I was set up by 1710, in a swim I’ve had fish from in the past, time was short, no time for exploring.  I used the usual feeder rig baited with a bit of an animal and swung it along the near bank towards a fallen tree.  Half an hour here brought a couple of fishy tremors on the tip but no proper bites. 

The next swim was also a familiar one and second cast here brought a solid bite at just after 1800.  I swept the rod back and something hefty lunged around in a downstream direction for a few seconds before the hook pulled.  Obviously this is frustrating but these events no longer crush me like they once did.  At that moment the most pressing thing on my mind was “what do I do next?” the light was fading fast, should I stay in this swim as I’d had action or should I move?  The Chub I’d lost was a serious fish, would it have spooked the swim? 

I had one more uneventful cast then moved downstream, a decision I regretted almost immediately as my new swim was not one I was particularly familiar with.  Shortly after settling in, I heard a swirl and a hiss in the dark, I guessed what it was and hissed back.  Cue bedlam as what was obviously Otters churned the water in a huge boil and hissed again in unison.  I flicked the headtorch on to make sure they got the message and picked out the eyes of a mother and two cubs as they moved downstream along the far bank. I spent half an hour here in which time nothing fishy happened and my heart was no longer in it so off home I head.  It had been an enjoyable couple of hours and I hope to squeeze another trip in before time runs out.

My Broadland obsession really kicks in when the season starts to run out and nowadays a long session spending dawn till dusk in the boat and all that goes with it, leaves me knackered the following day.  Not too knackered however, I had enough energy to cook dinner for lunch time and get to the river for mid afternoon.  The day was dry and mostly bright with a fresh westerly threatening to make life uncomfortable at times.  I walked a way upstream and settled into a swim that produced the goods back in December and was fishing by 1510.  Things have certainly changed since then; from late January we’d had almost a month of flood conditions which had shifted a big raft from this spot and removed snags from others.  It’s pretty certain that those snags now sit elsewhere, time will tell.  This spot didn’t look as fishy as it had before but I swung the feeder rig out anyway and made a brew.

Forty five minutes later I was in a second swim, one that the floods had actually made look more fishy.  I didn’t expect to catch to be honest but you never know and on my second cast the tip bounced and I was attached to a fish.  It didn’t feel as heavy as the one I’d lost last time but it was big enough and tried hard to get into near side snags on both sides of the swim.  My tackle takes no prisoners and the hook stayed in, soon I had a good Chub in the net.  I thought maybe four pounds but my guess was optimistic by four ounces.  I gave it a while longer here and a couple of casts in the next swim downstream but without any more signs.

By 1700 I was fishing in another familiar spot but spent a fidgety half an hour here without a bite.  In truth I was killing time because I wanted to be a little further downstream, in the swim I’d lost a biggun last time and at 1730 that’s where I was.  I was confident I’d get a bite in this relatively shallow run between reeds but after fifty minutes I realised I was being proved wrong again.  A few minutes later I was fishing a bit further downstream casting across to a slack on the far side.  I’ve caught a few Pike here and feel it should suit Chub but tonight I couldn’t settle and barely fifteen minutes passed before I pulled up the rod rest again.

Just downstream was another swim above a reed lined bend which I’d not yet fished and for some reason I settled here and cast just short of the far bank.  At least that’s where I think it landed as by now it was just before 1900 and proper dark, so I sat with the rod in my hand, oblivious to everything around me.  After a few minutes I felt a slight pull, it wasn’t anything like a bite but felt fishy and gave my flagging confidence a boost.  The sense of anticipation dwindled, was it a branch or something bumping the line?  Had I imagined it?  Then a strange series of twitches and pulls, I swept the rod back and felt weight, a good fish plodded around downstream of me but I was gaining line and slowly brought it back up in front of me.  I’d switched the head torch on by now and saw a big ghostly shape in a boil of water.  It didn’t like the look of the net and probably wasn’t too keen on the light either now I think of it but all I needed was patience.   Once I’d got it in the net I looked down and ran the torch along what was obviously a big Chub.

I left it in the net to rest while I sorted out the essentials, wetted the sling and zeroed the scales. I laid net and fish on the mat and realised this fish was a different beast to the one I’d had earlier.  I’m rubbish at guestimating these fish but was pretty certain this was the biggest Chub I’d ever seen. The scales agreed, my first five pounder with two ounces to spare.  Fucking hell!  A five pound Chub!  I put the fish back in the net and left it to rest in the water again, I couldn’t return it without attempting a self take, which by my standards came out quite well.

With the fish returned I thought I might as well cast out again and sat in the dark smiling to myself.  When I was a kid a five pound Chub was a big deal nationally and in my fishy world it still is, I was chuffed to bits.  I sat there for another forty five minutes or so and despite all the commotion there were still fish in the area.  I felt a couple of raps and a couple of short pulls, one of which I struck at but felt nothing.  I’m not sure my concentration was what it should have been, I was away with the fairies and called it a day around 2000.  I drove home knowing I’d find a way to get back on the river again before the season ended.

March 14^th already, a mad dash after work then I find myself sitting by the river staring at a rod tip one last time.  The day had been mostly bright with a moderate north westerly but there was a bit more cloud towards the end of the day and some of these spat showers that were short, sharp and unforecast. I spent half an hour in the first swim then forty minutes in the next and didn’t get a bite in either.  I knew where I wanted to be, the swim where I’d had the biggun last time and I was settled in by 1820, with the light fading fast.

By the time I’d made my second cast it was dark enough for me to need to hold the rod which is nice but not always practical, I’ll do things differently next season.  But when I am holding the rod and I get a bite it’s brilliant and this happened again after a couple of minutes.  The fish was noticeably less substantial than the last Chub I’d hooked and was actually about half the size but had a bit of spirit.  Still a fish and that was all I wanted when I set off this evening.  I sat contentedly and comfortably in the darkness despite the fast falling temperature which I could feel on my exposed hands.  The wildlife was active tonight both in the reeds below me and the undergrowth behind but things seemed to be quiet now in the river.

With the next couple of casts I went a bit further downstream but without success.  By 1930 I’d had enough so I loaded the feeder banged it downstream and put the rod on the rest, with the bait runner on while I set about tidying up.  The unhooking mat was turning frosty which told me it was probably a good idea.  All this time the headtorch was on and I made no attempt to be careful.  I was running out of things to pack away when I sensed movement, the torch beam picked out a bending rod and my ears detected a ticking reel.  The fish was already hooked and felt decent but was a long way downstream and was banging around a bit.  I needed to get it upstream sharpish before it decided to dive into the reed beds and this I did with surprising ease.  After it’s initial burst of energy the fish just gave up and allowed me to pull it straight up and into the net.  Out came the mat again along with the scales and sling.  I thought it was clearly over four pounds but it was actually three ounces under, a nice fish all the same.

One more cast while I tidied up a second time but no repeat and I was soon strolling back to the car.  I’ve really enjoyed this winter’s chubby diversion and the quiet, winding river is the ideal setting for me.  I’ve avoided the secret cheese paste cliché and found a simple method that seems to work and suits my unsubtle nature.  I get the feeling these Chub are highly nomadic and a swim that produces one day is very often quiet the next and there’s still loads of places I haven’t tried.  I knew I was in with a chance of a big four pounder but never did I dream I’d get a five!