The record-breaking potential of the River Thames has been underlined yet again with the capture of one of the biggest chub ever taken from a British river in the shape of this enormous 8lb 13oz specimen.
It was taken recently by Alan Stagg, a former Drennan Cup winner who’s no stranger to catching outsized chub, having already had three ‘eights’ and countless fish over the 7lb barrier during a decorated big-fish angling career.
Pictures of the remarkable specimen have only just been released as the capture was filmed in September for the new angling video service FishFlix, which went live recently.
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This week Alan, who’s marketing boss at Gardner Tackle, told Angling Times how the catch unfolded….
He said: “I revisited a stretch of the Thames that I’d had a brief dabble on last year, but never had a bite. To be honest, I didn’t even feel close. But, I knew it had the potential to do a monster, so I was determined to give it another go.
“During my first trip back I landed two chub, nothing massive, but it was a very good sign. I knew that if I could keep consistently getting the odd bite every trip, it could produce a monster.
“The river conditions at the time (early to mid-September) were perfect, with mild nights, and the river levels were steady, so I continued to do evening trips and the odd night whenever possible.
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“Over the next two weeks I landed 13 chub, but with only one six-pounder to show for my efforts. We then had some rain and the river levels rose. I fished one evening and caught a small fish of around 4lb, but I could only fish a couple of rod lengths out, due to the flow, which had increased massively.
“However, overnight the river levels dropped, which meant I could fish a third of the way across the river. After getting two rods out, I had a small chub straight away. An hour or so later, a big fish rolled just upstream and I had feeling I wasn’t far away.
“An hour later I had a positive indication and on picking up the rod I immediately knew I was connected to a good fish. After a brief tussle, up popped an enormous chub and certainly one that I didn’t want to lose!
"After giving the fish a few minutes to recover, I lifted the net out of the water and I then knew I had the fish of a lifetime. On the mat it looked enormous!”
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Incredibly, the fish is Alan’s fourth different 8lb-plus chub (three from the Thames and one from the Loddon), and he’s also had 23 fish over 7lb, including 7lb-plus chub from the Thames, Loddon and Hampshire Avon this season alone.
He beat his new personal best using a new mainline that’s currently on test at Gardner, a 15lb Trickster Heavy braided hooklink, a Target Barbel hook (which Gardner are releasing in Jan) and a 15mm shelf-life Krinella boilie from Blakes Baits.
He fed 20 baits after each bite and added a three-bait PVA bag to each rig prior to casting out.•
You can watch the whole video of the capture, plus loads of other great angling films, at www.fishflix.online.
Also, pick up the Boxing Day edition of Angling Times to read Alan’s views on why the River Thames has the potential to break not just the chub British record this season, but that for several other species too! On sale 26 December.
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