Chub (Leuciscus cephalus)

The Chub can be found in most of the UK's rivers and more recently in stillwaters where it is being stocked. The Chub is predatory and tends to live together in shoals, larger specimens tending to become solitary. The staple diet of the young fish are small invertabrates; older Chub also feed on small fish, insects, small crayfish, fruit and berries.
The Chub can often be found under overhanging trees and bushes also on gravel beds where it can be occasionally seen feeding in a river's current. 
The Chub can be distinguished from it's relation the Dace, by it's convex anal fin and the arrangement of it's pharyngeal teeth. It has a long, cylindrical, streamlined body with grey or black bordered scales. It's back is greyish brown in colour, tinged with green, it's sides are lighter and often golden blending into a white belly.

Methods of capture. Float fished baits tend to have the better results as Chub prefer a moving bait to a fixed. A stick float used in experienced hands can be deadly, hold back slightly and allowing the bait to be carried through the swim mid-water to just above or trundling along the bottom. Legered baits can and often work well especially in the winter months when the fish are more reluctant to chase food, even then the Chub is still active and some good results can be had. Fish in open, gravel runs sided by weed or close to even under overhanging trees using maggots, worms, bread, corn, castors or small cubes of luncheon meat with steady feeding of loose samples. For the large specimens try a small deadbait such as a minnow or large bread-flake.

On the evening of Tuesday 11th March 2003, a new British Freshwater Fish record was smashed at Lea Valley Angling's Dobbs Weir Fishery by Tim Archer from Hemel Hempstead. Tim landed the massive 8 lb 13 oz chub from the weir pool just as everyone was packing up.  
Dobbs Weir is a well known and popular day ticket fishery made up of two stretches of the Lee Navigation up and down stream of the weir. There is a great variety of fishing at the site for the coarse angler. It is a Medium sized weirpool with long sections of natural and canalised river and contains specific swims for disabled anglers.

Tip: "Deadly method on my local river is liquidised bread in a cage feeder with a large piece of bread flake on a 1 foot hooklink, 5lb main line with a size 6 hook on 3lb hooklink this method works for me...most of the time....at night l use cheese on a size 6 hook on a hair rig....or meat scores well..."