At this time of year, feeding windows can be very small, often coinciding with low light levels. This means the best time to be out chasing fish on the river is usually at dawn or dusk, to maximise the chance of a bite.
Taking full advantage of this knowledge, John Power headed out to a North Yorkshire river for a short session after dark. As it turned out, it was the right decision, as he landed this huge 7lb 2oz chub—a real giant for that part of the country and a cracking start to his winter campaign.
"I headed to the river near my North Yorkshire home in search of a chub. There aren’t masses of fish here, but you can often connect with some good ones," John explained.
"The swim I chose features a lovely deeper area that starts to shallow up. It’s been a great fish-holding spot in the past, and with only a couple of hours to spare, that’s where I decided to settle."
"Tactics were nice and simple—a short braided hooklength fished bolt-rig style, with my homemade paste attached to the hook."
John doesn’t feel the need to introduce too much bait into the swim during short sessions. Instead, he relies on the pulling power of a smelly bait, like his homemade paste, to nick a bite or two. This certainly worked, as he had a bite within a few minutes of casting in.
"I’d love to say the fight was spectacular, but once hooked, the fish rolled on the surface, and I just guided it back before it made a mad 30-second dash trying to get under a nearside tree," John recalled.
"I knew it was a decent fish, but I didn’t realise its true size until I went to lift it onto the mat. It had the biggest head of any chub I’ve ever seen."
"At 7lb 2oz, if this fish fills out properly, I can only imagine how big it could become—or perhaps how big it once was."
THE BEST CHUB FISHING RODS WILL HELP YOU LAND HUGE FISH LIKE THIS ONE...
