FORMER Drennan Cup winner Alan Stagg has been in blistering form this season, and his run of big fish captures continued last week when a productive few days on the River Thames resulted in this hefty 7lb 11oz chub.
Fishing on three consecutive evenings, Alan landed other chub of 6lb 5oz and 5lb 6oz, as well as three double-figure barbel topped by a 14lb 4oz fish.
Remarkably, the biggest chub in the haul is his 17th over the 7lb mark, and the bite came just 45 minutes after casting out.
Initially, the Hampshire-based angler suspected he’d hooked a bream, as the fish gave little resistance as it was brought across the flow. Alan only realised the true identity of his catch as it rolled over the net!
Targeting a feature on the far bank, Alan kept his tactics simple, using a 15mm fishmeal boilie hookbait on a 10lb Gardner Target fluorocarbon hooklink and a size 8 Wide Gape Talon Tip hook.
A PVA mesh bag of hookbait samples offered extra attraction.
