Chub PB smashed twice in a week
By kevc
Fish Catches
05 December 2008 20:52
This winter I set myself the target of bettering my chub Pb that stood at 5lb 11oz from my local River Taff.
The venue chosen to better my personal best was the mighty River Wye - a river that has provided me with first class angling for many a season.
If any venue held my chosen quarry it was this one with miles of untouched wild river, now available to the coarse angler due to the Wye and Usk Foundation.
My venue though is controlled by Newport Angling.
The Symonds Yat stretch of the Wye is productive to say the least and very popular with local anglers and tourists alike.
On my first session on Saturday the conditions were not bad and relatively mild.
As you would expect I had a cracking session.
I managed to smash my personal best with a fish of 5lb 14oz.
This session was quite frantic in terms of knocks and bites, and a total contrast to my second visit.
When I arrived for my second session I was greeted by a resonable frost that blanketed the ground and crunched under foot.
As I trudged through the fields laden like a pack horse with the usual assortment of tackle and the ground crunching under foot the old doubt started kicking in.
I managed to stay resonably confident and arived at my swim slightly out of breath but still confident.
The rods were set up - I use a pair of Drennan Super Specialists coupled with Okuma Epic Pros loaded with 10lb Daiwa Sensor line.
Terminal tackle consisted of a 3oz open end feeders fished in conjunction with a three foot 12lb braided hooklength tied knotless knot style to a size eight super specialist.
For bait I opted for 4mm and 6mm halibut pellets scalded the night before to soften them up and doused with SBS Bait KM pure halibut oil.
I have had some cracking results using this product this season.
Hookbaits were 12mm Halibut pellet glugged in the same additive added to the loosefeed and wrapped in M1 paste.
The paste just adds that bit of extra attraction - it smells really meaty and pulls the fish straight to the hookbait.
Anyway back to the fishing... Given the conditions I expected a bit of a slow start and sat through the first hour without so much as a knock then the left-hand rod starts to knock.
Lifting the rod I met with solid resistance as what was obviously a good fish headed in to the nearside bank in a bid for freedom.
With steady side strain I managed to coacks the fish away from the near bank and the cover and closer to the awaiting net.
As I caught a glimpse of the fish as it cam closer in panic set in and I realised what was attached. It was a donkey of a chub.
I was relived to see a pair of white rubbery lips brake the surface and the fish slide over the net. Parting the net my quarry lay before me.
This fish was in a class of its own and tipped the scales at 6lb 3oz.
After this I managed to latch in to another good fish that unfortunately I lost due to a hook pull.
To be honest though I was happy enough to brake my personal best for the second time in the space of a week.
My next target is a chub of 7lb + a difficult challenge but one I'm sure I will enjoy attempting.
