SEVEN-POUND chub are far from plentiful in Yorkshire, so having two reported to us in the same week, each weighing 7lb 4oz, is a truly remarkable occurrence.
Most weeks our catch pages are filled with huge chub, and while you’ll see plenty larger, a ‘seven’ from a northern river is arguably the equivalent of a fish a pound bigger from some rivers in the Midlands and south of the country.
First up to broach the magical mark was Malton angler Anthony Stockdale. He banked a thickset fish from the River Swale using breadflake fished below a feeder packed with liquidised bread.
“I dropped into a noted chub swim at dusk, and after a quick two-pounder, I had a positive pull on my fine quivertip,” he said.
“The fish fought strongly to try to make the overhanging willow trees on either side of me, and I was astonished when I lifted my landing net out and saw the size of the fish,” he said.
Also achieving ‘northern chub Nirvana’ was York-based Darren Starkey, who ended a four-year mission for a ‘seven’ from his home county.
Fishing an afternoon session, he’d had no action throughout the day and thought it wasn’t going to happen.
“I had a delicate tap on the tip before it pulled round firmly and I hit into what was clearly a good fish,” he told us. “Fighting fish at night is always exciting, and when I saw the size of this one I was blown away.”
His fish fell to Dynamite Baits Cheesy Garlic paste fished below a feeder filled with matching groundbait mixed 50/50 with bread.
