UK Coarse
Species
Squalius cephalus
The opportunistic river fish. Bread, cheese, maggot, a chubber float or a quiet leger under a bush — and they will still surprise you on a canal.
Chub live in rivers, some canals and the odd stillwater. They sit under cover: bushes, rafts, bridges, and the far bank. They will take almost anything, which is why 'chub baits' is a long list, but they are not stupid. A shadow on the skyline and they're gone.
A chunk of bread flake, a bit of cheese paste, maggots, or a worm under a bush will catch more chub than a peg that looks like a match swim. Rivers: after 16 June. Close season still applies.
Cover. Far-bank bushes, rafts, the tail of a pool, canal boat moorings, and any crease that brings food past a snag.
They feed all open season. Autumn and winter big-chub fishing is a British tradition. Summer likes early, late, and shade.
They watch. They come out, take, and bolt for the snag. A slow, confident melt of the float is classic. Don't wave the landing net early.
Big mouth, soft tissue. Unhook carefully. They don't need a carp sack. Support a big fish for a quick picture.
A few free offerings into the hole, then the hookbait. Hemp can hold them. Don't send a pint of maggot under a bush and expect them to stay.
Standing on the skyline. Casting onto their heads. Fishing open water because it looks 'nice'. Too much feed before the first fish.
Spooked: rest the swim, or move. Tiny taps: they're there — smaller hook, wait. No interest: change bait before you change peg.
Technique
Traditional waggler
A chubber into cover
Technique
Stick float
Down the crease
Technique
Bomb / leger
A bait under a bush
Technique
River feeder
A hole with a cage or blockend
Technique
Trotting a river
Held in front of a bush
Technique
Avon float
A crease with pace
Technique
Rolling meat
They will have it too
Technique
Chub float tactics
Under the bush, first trot
Technique
Chub fishing
The whole approach
Bait
Bread
Flake into the hole
Bait
Maggots
The universal bait. If you could only have one thing in the bag for a mixed UK stillwater or canal, maggots would still be the answer.
Bait
Cheese
Paste under a bush
Bait
Worms
Dendrobaenas, lobs and redworms. Perch, bream, tench and a bonus eel. The bait that still works when fashion has moved on.
Bait
Lures
Occasional, where allowed
Rig
Waggler setup
Locked float, bulk around the base, droppers down the line, fine hooklength. The same skeleton covers traditional waggler and, with a dumpy body, pellet waggler.
Rig
Bomb / running leger
A straight lead on a run ring or inline, a hooklength, and a bait. The quiet alternative to a feeder.
Rig
Stick float rig
Shirt-button shotting down a stick float so you can hold, ease, and mend a bait down a river crease.