There are red letter days and then there are RED LETTER DAYS!!

[Catfish Virgin (Still!)]

Fired up with more enthusiasm than is decent, I headed off, yet again, for the Dorset Stour in persuit of some Chub (and if that failed, anything that swims!)

Weather forecast was OK, a bit frosty to start with but no sign of the snows and high winds currently hitting other parts of the country.

I arrived in good time but found only one other angler on the bank which was a pleasant suprise as I expected many more. The river was looking really good, it had dropped a few inches from last weekend but had a nice colour to it. The rain that had fallen had clearly had a positive effect and everything screamed "fish" at me!

My chosen swim was well known and was racing through like an express train, with lots of swirls, opposing currents and midriver eddys:



Plan of attack was to start off with a heavy (70gm) maggot feeder coupled with two maggots on an 18 hook to 5lb fluorocarbon. It worked a treat, as within 30 minutes I was into a fish. A very steady but solid "lump" just stayed out in the main stream and slowly, very slowly trundled upstream!

Had I lost this fish, I would have sworn it was a decent Barbel, but it eventually yielded to constant pressure and after several heart stopping moments (see the overhanging branches ), it slid into the waiting net. It was a very big Chub and a perfect start to the day. In the sling in went 6lb 06oz, equalling my PB and once again I was shaking like a leaf.

I'm getting marginally better with the self timer photography:



I actually phoned Claudia but some geezer answered the phone! They were still in the car on their way to the Zander Meet, talk about a leisurely start!

Suitably calmed down, I fished hard for an hour or so but with no further action. I decided to change tactics and set up a float rod. As I was doing this, I saw the feeder rod lunge towards the river! Grabbing the rod, I felt absolutely nothing. Maybe it was some debris being swept down, but no, the maggots were absolutely mashed! Not happy!

Even so, I changed to the float rod, using a 8AA Avon style float with the vast majority of the shot bulked near the hook. First trot down the float slid away and I lifted into a chunk of weed. Except the weed then moved upstream and I was in again. This was another solid fish and would just not come in. Very slowly I gained line until it was under the rod tip where it just hugged the bottom using the flow to full advantage. It eventually came to the surface and conveniently swam into the net! This one was 6lb 04oz and an immaculate Chub.

This image was taken by a passing angler and shows the fish off beautifully:



Two fish and two "6's".....Heaven! This time I texted Claudia!

I carried on with the float tactics and occassionally swapped to the feeder to ensure the feed was topped up. It was pretty useless to "loose feed" in such a current so the feeder was the right tool to use. I had several more smaller Chub (from 2lb to 3lb) on the float and was happy as a "curly tailed pink animal in ****".

Another period on the feeder produced a couple of small rattles but I was being mesmorised by the rhythmical flexing of the tip as it mimicked the current, when it just kept going down! This was another very big Chub which finally tipped the scales at 6lb 03oz. Three "6's" in a day!!

Claudia phoned me just as I slipped this one back. Sorry for the stupid face, another self timed image:



I fished well into darkness and ended up with a total of 11 Chub and 1 Roach. A tremendous days sport, one I'll remember for a long time and will find very hard to repeat, if ever!

(Don't tell Claudia, I said I'll take her Chubbing in a couple of weeks!!)

[Fishing Forum Admin]

fab raed and what cracking chub

[maghouse]

Thats a great report CFV(S) & good pics - well done on those fish - that river looks fun !

[Norfolkboy]

Super stuff, Neil

[fishypaul]

super fish neil,well done mate

[Gavel]

That sounds like an excellent days fishing. Like the pictures always good to have a visual record, I can see why you have such a wide smile.

[BaggieRich]

Well done Neil, there's some fantastic fish there mate. Like you say, it'll take some doing trying to better that now. Fun trying though.

[Twiddler]

Excellent report and some super cracking chub, well done on beating your PB.....you right, it looks like the river was running through like an express train, I can imagine it wasn't easy to hold bottom there.

I can't wait to fish there with you in a couple of weeks time, maybe I can beat my PB chub of 8oz

Again, well done Partner

[Noel]

Fantastic report and fish again.

I never would have looked at that swim and thought "chub". Barbel maybe but not chub. It looks so fast

Shows what I know!

[silverfish]

Well done on the chub mate. Sounds like a good days fishing.All the best marty.