Chub
Chub - the species. Including info on habitat, location, feeding/diet, reproduction/spawning and more
Chub
Leuciscus cephalus
Cyprinidae
Appearance
The chub is a long, slender member of the Cyprinid family, possessing scales of grey/silver, which vary from dark across the back to white under the belly. A chunky built fish, the chub possesses a large head which has earnt the nick-name 'logger-head'. Fins are large and rounded, and vary in colour in relation to the fish' age - younger fish possessing orange/yellow fins, while older fish display grey hues.
The fish has large eyes placed at the front-top of the head which provides an excellent field of vision through-out the water column, enabling the chub to spot food and danger with ease. The fish' most distinguishing feature is its mouth, which is very large - enabling chub to eat all manner of items.
The maximum size attainable in the UK by chub is at present, around 10lb. The average size however depends largely on the waterway, but varies from 1lb to 4lb. Chub are considered large above 4lb, 5lb being a specimen fish and 6lb+ the fish of dreams.
Diet and Feeding
Chub are omnivorous fish which are well adapted to take both large and small food items. The fish has agile lips which give many anglers grief, as well as strong pharangeal teeth which are very adept at crushing hard shells and the like.
Chub have a strong predatory instinct, particularly late spring through summer when fry are abundant and appetites high after the rigours of spawning. Their large mouths enable them to take quite large fish, dead or alive. In stillwaters chub have been known to rely very heavily on fish for food. Other sources of nutrition include insects, snails and other molluscs, bread intended for ducks, mussels, young crayfish... the list is almost infinite - in short the chub will make the most of anything it can!
Succesful fishing baits include bread, maggots, worms, slugs, sweetcorn, pellets, boilies, hemp, casters...
It is suggested by some that chub are strong sight-feeders.
Habitat
Like roach, chub can be found in all manner of waterways, but are most prolific in rivers. Fond of flowing water, chub can be found throughout the river system, except the most barren mountain stream and the most salty tidal reaches.
The fish are especially fond of cover, hiding under trees, weed and other snags when stressed or holed up. When hooked, chub show a fantastic ability to find and reach snags, depositing the hook onto the obstruction and swimming away scotch free - much to the bemusement of the angler.
Reproduction
Chub commonly spawn in may/early june when the water temperature reaches 16/17¢. Spawning in similar areas to barbel, the species gather en-masse which are obvious to see and almost obvlivious to danger.
Fishing
Chub can be both incredibly easy to catch, or extremely difficult to tempt, depending on age, conditions and the ability of the angler to avoid spooking the fish. It is considered important to avoiding alerting the fish of the anglers presence, however with continual feeding the fish abandons its caution and feeds hard and competitively. This behaviour makes the chub susceptible to both feeder and float tactics where the swim is built up using particle baits. Roving tactics with light-leger rigs also proves effective.
Tackle required for chub can be float or feeder rods, with line in the 3lb to 8lb range depending on the swim and other circumstances. It is important to land the fish in good time, as the longer they are played out, the more chance they have of finding unseen snags. Hooks should be fairly strong and matched to the bait in use.
Effective baits include hemp & caster, bread-mash and flake/crust, boilie and pellet, paste baits, or large naturals such as slugs or lobworms.