We aren't far away from the end of another coarse fishing season on the rivers, and to say the 2024-2025 season has been successful would be an understatement. Along with numerous 20lb barbel landed, which culminated in a British Record being caught, there have been some massive chub banked from a variety of rivers all over the UK, even rivers you wouldn't expect to throw up a monster have done.
If you haven't managed to get out yet, you still have a couple of weeks to make the most of the fishing and with the weather warming up and spring around the corner, who knows what exceptional fish might be waiting for you down at the river!
The biggest chub of the season was banked last weekend by John Maddison at a colossal 8lb 12oz. He explained how he managed to bank this incredible fish:
"I have a boat that I use to fish from on the River Thames, it’s a great way to access more secluded areas that bank anglers would struggle to fish effectively," John explained.
"I’ve been targeting pike and perch over the past few weeks with reasonable success, trying to get in as much fishing as possible before the season closes on March 15th."
After a successful first day, John wanted to top up on small silverfish so he could focus on predator fishing at dawn. To catch the livebait, he used his Avon rod with a light quivertip, opting for a simple running feeder rig with maggots.
"I had a pretty standard bite a few minutes after casting out, but when I set the hook, I was met with an unexpected weight on the end," he said.
"There are a lot of big bream in this stretch, and the way it was holding in the current, I fully expected to see one of them roll as it neared the boat."
"I was only using a 2lb hooklink and a size 20 hook, so I played it cautiously. It’s always nice to land a bonus fish—regardless of the species—when you hook one."
"It weighed 8lb 12oz, and I was in complete shock. I'm so glad my light hooklength and tiny hook held out because this fish was truly amazing to see."
With a few weeks left in the season, could this fish have broken the record if it had been caught a little later? It could very well be the biggest chub in the country—proving that you never truly know what you’re going to catch when you go fishing, and that is the reason we all do it!
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Steven Newton had a cracking fish from the River Soar recently and had this to say:
“I arrived at the River Soar, only to find it running high and coloured."
“Chub were my target, and I fished with cheesepaste on a link leger, right under the rod-tip."
“Soon I connected with a fish that shot off like a barbel. In the murky water, it was hard to get a true sense of its size, but after I’d netted and placed thischub on the mat, I realised it was a good one!"
“It weighed 6lb 7oz, and was one of three I caught on the day, all weighing over 4lb."
“I was fishing with stout tackle, using a size 6 hook and 8lb line.”
OUR GUIDE TO THE BEST RIVER FISHING TIPS WILL HELP YOU CATCH MORE FISH.
The northern rivers have been in fine form this year too, as Tony Stockade found out when he changed tactics leading to the downfall of this super chub!
“I had a memorable session on the River Swale in North Yorkshire the other day. I started on the maggot feeder and was surprised to catch several barbel weighing around 6lb. They weren’t what I expected on a cold February afternoon!
“As the light began to fade, I switched to a bread feeder set-up in the hope of a chub and had four weighing around 3lb, before then hooking something larger which I unfortunately lost.
“Thinking I had missed my chance. I recast and, after a bit of a wait, the tip wrapped around again, and I hooked another heavy chub. I managed to steer it past the marginal snags and net my best fish of the season, weighing 6lb 14oz.”
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Over to the once famous Great Ouse and while this river doesn't produce the amount of massive fish it used to, Geoff Collins proved that there are still big fish lurking if you know where to find them!
“On a recent trip, I managed this fish of 7lb 2oz from just such a spot – a small slack created by an old dead reedbed, giving the fish shelter from the worst of the floodwater.
“I fished a homemade protein paste hookbait. I’ve tried lots of different options over the years, but I make these with a boilie base mix I like, mixed with eggs, groundbait, and a bit of flavouring.
“You can use ground-up shelf- life boilies instead of the base mix, if you like – the key is having something smelly that the fish can find in the coloured water.
“This is fished on a simple running rig, using a small lead usually around the half-ounce mark, but occasionally up to 1oz, depending on the flow.
“My quivertip is a glass version of between 1.5oz and 2oz. They’re perfect for spotting delicate bites, although this fish gave a quick, stabbing bite before it surged out into the heavy flow.
“Twice it snagged me in a near-bank obstruction, but heavy pressure saw it come free before being swept up in my landing net.
“It’s the biggest chub I’ve had in recent seasons and was a mint- conditioned, young-looking fish, with no fin damage at all.
THE BEST CHUB RODS WILL HELP YOU TAME BIG CHUB FROM SNAGGY SWIMS.
The great thing about chub is, a short session is often all that is needed to bank the fish of a lifetime. After finishing school, Thomas Bacon headed down to the River Wensum and landed one of its last remaining giants in the form of this 7lb chub!
“I got back from school and headed straight to my local stretch of the River Wensum, in Norfolk, where I selected a swim with good depth, a steady flow and an undercut bank."
“After feeding a few bits of cheesepaste made with stinky Stilton, I moulded a small lump of it around a size 6 hook and dropped it close to my near margin."
“Just a few minutes later, the tip wrapped around, and I struck into a fish that made a long run downstream... making me wonder if it was a carp or a barbel!"
“It then held deep, making dives for the near bank, and when a big chub surfaced, I was very relieved to see it slip into the net."
“Weighing 7lb exactly, it’s a fish I didn’t expect the Wensum to produce. “In fact, I double-checked the weight on two different sets of scales, just to be sure!”
