27/12/2014 - When Water Temperatures Get Below 38 Degrees F Then Target The Chub

Chub caught when the W/T was 36 degrees F with cat ice along the margins, I also had a 10lb 10 ounce barbel.

It looks as if we are going to have a few days of cold weather, those new to the sport shouldn’t worry as when the temperature gets below 39.5 degrees F everything changes in the aquatic environment, The digestive rate of the fish will slow up but remember after a few days some fish will want to eat so all is not lost. Even in temps as low as 34 degrees F you can still catch barbel, remember the Arctic winter about 4 or 5 years ago when some rivers were iced over from bank to bank in some areas. I along with some friends were fishing the Kennet and Ribble often at night with air temperatures down to minus 12 degrees F, often we would catch a barbel in the early hours of the morning around 1 and 2 am. Len Arbery was fishing the Thames at the same time and caught double figure barbel. We fished very slow water using a tiny dough bobbin as a bite indicator. Len was using a special bait, I used crust on a 2 inch link. Once the temps have been down a few days I suggest you target the chub, in cold clear water one bait is supreme a cube of crust on a short link, if it’s a bright day arrive at the waterside about an hour before dusk and if club rules allow fish a couple of hours in the darkness. There have been many occasions when tackle and clothing have been covered in frost but the rod tip kept getting pulled round by another chub.

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