After
Christmas, we were to
experience one of the coldest winters that we had for some time. This
saw
nearly all of the Fens come to a standstill, with only the larger
Rivers
getting away without being frozen. As the conditions started to
improve, I had
to make a choice. Last year I had blown my Pike PB away three
times, but
the Chub fishing I had promised myself never materialized. Having
landed a PB
equaling 6lb plusser during the summer months, I really wanted to try
and
improve on this. With the conditions on all of the rivers now perfect,
I began
to prepare myself and get my chubing tackle organized.
My first line of attack was to fish Steak as hook bait with Mince meat
in the
feeder. I had also decided to try a couple of other baits to, the more
traditional
lobworms and breadflake. In previous sessions bites had dried up on the
steak,
yet I still felt that fish were in the swim; hopefully a change bait
would nail
any of these crafty ones.
My first session or two produced some nice fish, with a fair few over
4lb in
weight, but the larger fish remained elusive. That was until my next
session.
Arriving late after work one evening, I made my first cast and sat
back.
Instantly the quivetip rattled round and I was into my first fish of
the
evening, a 2lb'er.... A fish at least I thought, and I recast. As I sat
back
waiting patiently, my tip gave a slight twitch, a bat flying into the
line I
wondered? The tip then hooped round and I struck into what I
expected to
be a modest sized Chub. The fight was pretty unspectacular, and I
managed to
net the fish without even flicking the head torch on. It was only when
I went
to lift the net that I realized what I had done! Feeling quite a
weight, I
quickly flicked the head torch on to be presented by a monster of a
Chub, it
was huge! In a mad panic I prepared the scales and went to weigh my
prize, but
there was a problem, the digi scales batteries had run out! At this
point I
only had one thing that I could do, place the fish in a large
commercial Carp
keepnet and get to the nearest place that sold batteries! On the way
back from
a garage, it suddenly dawned on me; I had actually had spare batteries
in my
bag all along! Cursing my stupidity, I arrived back, hoping that the
fish was
still there and hadn't somehow performed the great escape within my
keepnet. As
I lifted the net, I was relieved to see the site of a 2lb Chub, and a
Chub
which looked like it could eat it! I placed the fish into a bag and
weighed it
at 7lb 1oz. I then weighed it again at 7lb 1oz. This turned me even
more to
jelly! The PB I really wanted had been achieved.
I made a few more sessions after this, but no fish came near to that,
although
some were still rather large!
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|