The Royalty Fishery on the Hampshire Avon has been synonymous with barbel captures over the years, but they are starting to take a backseat as the river is beginning to produce some enormous chub as Stevie Tomlin discovered firsthand, when he landed a new personal best chub weighing 7lb 14oz.
Targeting a prolific area of the fishery, Stevie was targeting a deeper area that is usually populated by the barbel that live in the river and this was what he thought he had initially hooked.
"I was fishing a deep hole that has been a very successful spot for me over the years, and with the river running a little lower it was the perfect place to fish," Stevie told us.
"I opted to fish using a swim feeder full of maggots rather than meat or pellets that the fishery sees a lot of."
"I prefer to use a large dendrobaena worm on the hook as the bait stands out whilst also withstanding the attention of the minnows that populate the river."
"I was casting regularly to get some bait into the swim but I hadn't had any real indications. Past experience told me it can be a waiting game here, as the river does get a fair amount of pressure."
After a few hours of inactivity, Stevie began to get a few liners and had a couple of missed bites before a solid bang on the tip resulted in a large fish being hooked.
"It took a while to get my first bite but it was certainly worth waiting for."
"The chub tried every classic trick to snag me up in-between the weedbeds and rushes but I managed to steer it out, with the size 10 hook holding firm."
"I couldn't believe the size of it, at 7lb 14oz it is my biggest ever chub and I can only imagine how big this fish might be in the winter," Stevie said.
USING ONE OF THE BEST FEEDER RODS WILL HELP YOU TAME BIG CHUB FROM SNAGGY SWIMS.
