The Chubb Stream (4)
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Arrival time: 08.30
Weather: Misty start before a very hot day.
Swim: Roving
Tackle: 11ft Masterline 'John Wilson' Avon, 2oz quiver, link leger, 5lb line, 12 hook
Baits: Spam.
Fish: Two chub and one lost eel!
Today was a bit of an experiment. The second of two extremely hot days so I planned only to stay for a few hours. And I thought I would try videoing parts of the session using my iPhone. I had bought a holder for my tripod and a remote bluetooth shutter control.
I started at the pipe swim that has on two previous occasions rewarded me with an almost immediate take. But with the phone all set up, today nothing!
I moved on to the tree swim, which had also provided a quick take on earlier visits, and today it obliged again. Not a big chub, but I got it on video. My filming wasn't that great as at times the top of my head moved out of frame but a least I captured the bite and landing the fish, albeit in a mini jungle!
I decided at this point to stop the filming and moved to the bypass swim, where setting up the tripod would have been difficult in any case. After a few casts I got a pull but the fish came off. Certain that would have spooked things I nevertheless cast again and this time hooked a chub of perhaps 1½lb (see end of video).
I then tried a few places where there weren't obvious chub 'spots' but only streamer weed. None of these rewarded me. After sitting under a tree for a while to cool down I went back to the pipe swim hoping that a chub or two might have moved in, but no luck. Casting further downstream I got the dreaded tapping on the rod top and sure enough an eel was on the line when I tightened. It fought hard and got tangled up in the weeds as I brought it to the edge. Hand lining resulted in a break and loss of terminal tackle.
It was now 11.00 and very warm so I decided to call it a day, or a morning if you like.
The stream was definitely a bit lower today and I still find it surprising that one can't spot the chub. It's a matter of picking likely lies and if a chub is there, it seems that it will take fairly quickly. The second fish was hooked well down indicating a bold take and perhaps not a great deal of fishing pressure.