Chub: Where to find these fish and how to catch them
Chub
Chub are hard-fighting fish that often ‘fight dirty’ by diving into snags or bank-side reeds or weeds in order to avoid capture.
Chub can be caught using all fishing techniques and on a wide variety of fishing baits.
Chub can be caught all year round and can often be caught in the depths of winter when other fish aren’t actively feeding.
Small chub can often be found in large shoals and are easy to catch. Large chub are found in smaller groups and can be very easily spooked and more difficult to catch.
A quiet, cautious approach is essential when targeting big chub.
From: The Art of Angling 1776 by R.D. Brookes M.D. It is likely the Chubs will sink down – to wards the Bottom of the Water at the first Shadow of your Rod, they being the most fearful of Fishes.
About Chub
The Latin name for the European chub is Squalius cephalus.
Taxonomy
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Genus: Squalius
Species: Squalius cephalus
Other names for chub
Anglers often call chub ‘chevin’. Other names include loggerhead and chavender.
Distribution of Chub in the UK
Chub are widespread in lowland England but less common in Wales and Scotland.
Chub in Ireland?
Although the chub is widespread across Europe, it is not native to Ireland. They are a recent introduction to Ireland. In 2005, fisheries staff confirmed anglers’ reports of chub caught in the River Inny. An eradication campaign in the Inny captured 30 chub, and after that, there were no sightings for several years. However, their presence was confirmed once again in 2020.
Distribution on Chub in Europe
The distribution of this species includes many regions in Eurasia, such as the North, Baltic, northern Black, White, Barents, and Caspian Sea basins. It can also be found in Atlantic basins extending southward to Adour drainages in France. Scandinavia includes southern Finland and extends north to around Stockholm in Sweden. Drainages in the Mediterranean basin from Var to Hérault (perhaps Aude) in France. It is not naturally found in Italy or the Adriatic basin.
Chub: Appearance
It is a stocky fish with a large, blunt head and a large mouth, with distinctive, thick white lips.
Its body is long and cylindrical in shape and is covered in large grey-brown scales. Chub have dark-coloured backs, golden or brassy-coloured flanks, and pale bellies.
The tail is dark brown or black, the dorsal fin is greyish-green in colour, and all the other fins are orange-red.
The dorsal fin has 3 spines and 7-9 soft rays, while the anal fin has 3 spines and 7-10 rays. The vertebrae count is 42-48. It can grow to 60 cm but most fish are around 30 cm.
Distinguishing chub from dace
Small chub (known as chublets) are sometimes confused with dace. Chub can be distinguished from dace by inspecting their anal fins. Chub fins are more rounded and convex-shaped; dace anal fins are concave.
How Long do Chub Live?
The average lifespan of chub is around 14 years (females tend to live longer than males), but they have been known to live up to 22 years.
When do Chub Spawn?
Spawning occurs in the spring and summer, in fast-flowing water over a gravel bottom, and more rarely among submerged vegetation.
Males assemble at spawning sites and follow ripe females, often with much splashing, to shallow riffles. Females then lay sticky eggs in the gravel. Eggs are pale yellow in colour.
Males reach sexual maturity at the age of 2-4 years, whereas females reach it at 4-6 years.
Chub Habitat
Chub is predominantly a river fish and can be found in both sluggish and moderate rivers, but it is also found in canals and lakes.
Chub are associated with snags and overhanging trees. These areas are a good starting point when targeting chub.
On rivers, in spring and summer, chub can be found in the faster-moving, gravelly stretches. Later on in the year, they can be located in the more sluggish sections.
Deep bends, channels and undercut banks are always worth investigating during the colder months and when the river is clear.
In flood conditions, chub can be found close to the river bank.
British Record Chub
The official British Record (Rod Caught) Fish Committee record is 9 lb 5 oz (4.224 kg), caught in 2007 by Andy Maker from a southern still-water.
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How to Catch Chub
Chub can be caught using all types of fishing techniques and all kinds of baits.
Best Baits for Chub
Chub, being omnivorous, consume invertebrates, small fish, frogs, fish eggs, vegetation, and berries. In short, chub will eat pretty much anything!
Favourite fishing baits for chub
Maggots: An excellent all-year-round bait for chub. Feeding large quantities of maggots can often attract chub into your swim. During winter, in areas where smaller species such as dace and roach aren’t present in large numbers, maggots can be a superb bait for chub. Even the biggest chub can be caught on a single or double maggot.
Worms: A lobworm or bunch of dendrobaena worms can be particularly good when the river is carrying extra water.
Slugs: Black slugs are great baits for chub.
Pellets: Pellets are used in large quantities at most venues and can be used to catch chub. 2–4 mm pellets as feed bait, with a larger pellet on the hook can be successful.
Boilies: Using boilies as hookbait helps avoid the attention of small fish species. Prebaiting your fishing location with boilies can improve your chances. Meat-flavoured boilies are often used, but don’t discount fruit-flavoured boilies.
Meat Baits: Luncheon meat, bacon grill, chopped ham with pork, peparami and even raw steak are all effective baits for catching chub.
Bread: Bread is an inexpensive but highly effective chub bait. Bread-flake and bread crust can be used when ledgering, float fishing and also surface fishing for chub.
Mashed bread is a classic chub feed, which can be used in combination with breadcrust or breadflake on the hook.
Cheese Paste: A large lump of smelly cheese paste is irresistible to chub. There are lots of different recipes for making cheese paste that can be found by searching the internet. When using cheese paste in the winter, choose a recipe that ensures that your hookbait doesn’t become too hard. Adding oils or margarine helps keep your cheese paste soft in such conditions.
Fishing Techniques to Catch Chub
Float-fishing for chub
Trotting for chub is an exciting method. Maggots, worms, meat and breadflake are all very effective. Loafer-style floats or ‘chubbers’ can be used in different sizes, depending on the size of your hookbait.
Ledgering for chub
Choose block-end or open-ended feeders when you want to introduce quantities of bait into your swim. Black cap feeders are ideal for maggots, hempseed and small pellets. They can also be used to feed liquidised bread into your swim. Open-ended feeders are ideal for feeding groundbait. Grip-mesh feeders are perfect when feeding dampened pellets and cubes of meat.
Straight leads can be used to explore swims, when roving and when chub are particularly cautious.
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Roving for Chub in Winter
In winter, when the water is cold, fish move much less than when the water temperatures are higher. They are less inclined to travel.
When it’s cold, sitting in one spot for long periods, hoping for a bite, isn’t the best approach. Instead, try a spot for 20 mins-to one hour and then move on. This way you will cover more ground and hopefully find those fish.
If possible, walk the river and feed several spots and fish each of them on your return.
Hair Rigs and chub
Hair-rigging bait when chub fishing can be effective, but many anglers recommend using a short hair as chub tend to pick up baits with their lips (and can avoid the hair-rigged hook), rather than sucking in the bait like bream, barbel and carp.
Free-lining for chub
In summer, surface-fished bread crust is one of the most exhilarating ways to catch chub. Try floating crusts under overhanging trees.
Freelining with baits such as meat and cheese paste, creates minimal resistance and wary chub will not feel the resistance of leads or feeders. Fish close to the bank using a very soft quivertip (or touch ledger).
Lure fishing for chub
Large chub are very carnivorous and can often be caught on lures, especially when they are more active during the warmer months. Try crankbaits and soft plastic lures up to around 10 cm in length.
Fly-fishing for chub
In late spring and summer, large chub can be caught on even the tiniest dry flies. Try sparkle gnats or black gnats on a size 18-16 hook.
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