Des Taylor’s October Angling Tips
Start thinking about river chub
One of my favourite Autumn species is Chub and especially from the smaller rivers. To enjoy a great days chub fishing the fish don’t have to be big but of course it is nice to see a big chub in the bottom of the landing net!
A day chub fishing for me begins the day before and that means getting a bag of pre frozen bread mash and a session bag of cheese paste from my fishing freezer and then popping down the supermarket to buy a batch loaf of bread.
Now the type of bread you buy is important in that it should have leathery crust and nice doughy flake not necessarily the type you would want to eat yourself but stays on the hook. My paste is made of mature cheddar, stilton and red Leicester which I put into a bowl and microwave till melted then stir together and then let cool down for a stiff paste.
Start thinking about river chub
This when used especially in cold water will go hard but that’s not a worry because I use it on a hair rig moulded around a small cork ball and being so hard I’m sure its always on the baited hair.
Bait used in conjunction with a 10 foot Avon type rod with a quiver tip of around 2oz fitted, a small fixed spool reel loaded with 8lb line and a box with a few SSG shot and some 8 and 6 hooks and I’m ready to go.
Having parked the car, I then roam down the river how far is depending on the length of the session and every lively looking chub swim I put a handful of mash and a couple of small knobs of cheese paste the size of my little finger nail. Then on the last peg I start to fish and slowly but surely start to fish the prebaited swims back to the car the last one being nearest to the car and then I’m homeward bound.
Each swim I will generally fish for 15minutes to 1 hour depending on “ line bites” and my “feeling” but there will be a couple of swims that you either know there are big fish present from past experiences or you have the ”feeling” there may be a big chub living there. In these swims bait up more than once maybe even three times before you make your cast, yes it may involve a lot of walking but it will be worth it when a lovely big chub bends that quiver tip double.
My rig is as simple as it gets with usually one to three SSG on the line depending on flow in the swim and these are pinched straight on the line two feet away from the baited hook with flake or cheese paste and with the popped up breadcrust about three or four inches at most. The bites are usually unmissable from chub and even say ”hello” with a small bang on the quivertip to say get ready and then the tip is pulled over with the rod nearly being pulled in.
A four hour session in Autumn and winter which includes an hour into dark if allowed on the water is the highlight of the week for me and I suggest you give it a go one things for sure you will do it again!!!!!
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