Chub | Leuciscus cephalus | description, baits and fishing methods for catching Chub

Description and habitat of Chub

Nicknames include old rubber lips, loggerhead, chavender and chevin.

The chub is mainly a river fish, preferring moderate to fast flowing waters but are found in slow to the faster moving rivers and weirs especially where trees or bushes overhang the water. The chub is also found in ponds and lakes and is now being stocked in commercial fisheries.

The chub is a thick set fish with a large blunt head. It has a long and cylindrical body with large greenish/brown scales that have a slight black edging across the back working down to a lighter golden flank and a light belly with a dark brown to blackish tail. The dorsal fin of the chub is a greyish/green colour with all the other fins being orange/red. The chub has a large mouth with thick rubbery lips and a voracious appetite and will eat almost anything.

When smaller, the chub is sometimes mistaken for dace as both the chub and the dace have similar body and fin colouring. Identification between the two is by the shaping of the dorsal and anal fins. The chub has convex shaped fins while the dace is concave.

Small chub often swim in shoals and an average size chub is 2 and a half to 3lbs.  As they grow the larger specimens usually become solitary.

Natural food for chub include invertebrates, crustaceans, insects, flies, mayfly, caddis fly, larvae, worms, fish fry and berries from overhanging bushes i.e. elderberry. Larger chub will eat smaller fish such as minnows, roach and dace. Chub are known for being gluttonous and will eat just about anything. Unlike other fish the chub will feed throughout the year be it a hot summer afternoon or freezing winter morning.

Fishing Methods for catching Chub

Chub can be caught using various methods including float, ledger, feeder, free-lining, spinning with lures and even fly fishing. The venue will determine the best method.
A medium rod with a fixed spool reel fitted with a minimum of 3lb line should be used. Hook size of 16 to a 4 but this will depend on the size of the bait used. I use barbless hooks because they cause less damage to the fish and are easier to unhook.

A typical approach when chub fishing in rivers or flowing waters is trotting. Use a stick float or in faster waters a big Avon or a Loafer that carries a lot of shot. The float and shotting pattern will depend on the speed of the water flow and where in the water the chub are located. Plumb the water to get the depth and start by stringing the shot out button style and letting the float and baited hook flow at the same speed as the water. The baited hook needs to be in front of the float so hold back (stop the float) for a couple of seconds every couple of yards or so. (the reason for this is the current nearer the river bed is slower than the surface so holding back the float will allow the baited hook to stay in front - you'll get the hang of it!).

When trotting remember to feed every cast. After a few run throughs if you get no bites try altering the shot by moving it nearer the hook or bunching every second shot together.
If fishing a fast flowing water try using an Avon type float and fix the shot nearer the hook to keep it closer to the river bed.

Another fishing method is free-lining. This is ok where there is little flow on the water. Attach a single swan shot (SSG) about a foot up the line from the hook and fish a large piece of luncheon meat or bread on the hook.  The bait will bounce along the river bed and hopefully be intercepted by the chub.
The feeder rod can also be used but make sure you use enough weight to hold the bait on the bottom of the river bed.
Start with a 24 inch hook length, bait your hook, fill you feeder with maggot, hemps or casters and cast in. If after a few casts you don't get a bite try varying the hook length until you start getting bites.
Chub can also be caught on plugs and spinners.
On slower moving rivers / waters try fishing floating crust. This can be a perfect approach on its day. Chub love bread so don't be afraid to use quite large pieces.

Baits for catching Chub
Worms, lob worms, redworms, cheese (especially the smelly cheese), cheese paste, bread (either crust, flake or paste), maggots, pinkies, casters, pellets, hemp and tares, wasp grubs, slugs, black slugs are a good chub bait, sweetcorn, luncheon meat, sausage meat, berries and elderberries, shrimps, cockles (fresh not frozen or pickled in vinegar), boilies. For the bigger chub use a bigger bait. Chub are also caught using plugs and lures and also by fly fishing.

A couple of tips.
1: Tackle up away from your peg because chub are very wary fish and can soon be scared away. The vibrations you make next to the water can frighten the chub and when you are stood near the water your profile against the skyline can scare them away.
2: Once hooked a chub will swim straight for any rushes or underwater obstacles like submerged trees or tree roots and snag you up.

Article Copyright 1997 J.Boswell
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