07/01/2026 - Winter has arrived - Now is the time to target the chub and grayling
A good out of season brown trout
For the past two weeks the nights have been cold and frosty, in fact even the day temperatures have often been below zero, with the riverside fields having a covering of frost, the last few days there has been a covering of snow in some areas, The river Ribble upstream and downstream of Brungerley Bridge has been iced over from bank to bank, other areas of the river have areas of ice on the water, as have the River Calder.
Robin Smith has been fishing the River Ribble, for grayling but sadly no success, but he did catch a big brown trout of 3 lb 9 ounces. Recently he fished the river Wyre where he had a good winter chub of 4 lb 2 ounces on luncheon meat, his friend Andrew Newsham of Lytham was float fishing the same venue downstream of Robin, he caught 3 nice chubs, but sadly losing 2 good fish in some tree roots.
Neil Smith has been enjoying some good sport with grayling and chub, he had one good session catching a lot of "Goer" roach, several around the pound mark. Neil has also been catching some good grayling over the pound mark. If you're out on the riverbank, please take some bird food and scatter it about as the birds are having a hard job to get enough food to survive the long old winter nights. I have been hanging fat balls in the trees, also scattering meal worms and seeds underneath the bushes where there is no snow. I have also been buying apples, then cutting these into slices as I have found the blackbirds find these better to peck at.
I have had a few sessions fishing for both chub and the grayling, often switching from float fishing to flyfishing for the grayling, I found a beaded Black & Peacock spider a good pattern, if that doesn't produce, I switch to a Walker beaded mayfly nymph. Remember grayling are often found in groups, so keep casting and moving, I usually fish about four casts, if no interest I move a few steps then repeat the process, until you get some action.
Cold Water Chub Fishing
When the water temperature drops below 39'2 degrees The fish slow down their digestive rate, "It's been said "That a barbel may take several hours to digest a cube of luncheon meat" Sadly what many anglers do when they arrive at their chosen fishing spot, is put in ground bait. My advice is only put one item of food in the water: that's one on your hook. The other day I fished an area where there was a lot of ice-covered water, the water temperature was down to 34 degrees F. As I was putting together my tackle which consisted of an 11 foot Avon action rod, with a small fixed spool reel, as I was threading the line through the guides Two other anglers appeared, "Are you fishing" one of them said, I said "Yes, are you" Both in unison said "It's too cold for the fish" I then spent a few minutes explaining that "If you fish a bit of bread crust on a short link you might catch" They mumbled something and were off to the car park.
After getting all my tackle sorted, I spread a load of bird seed and mealworms over some sheltered ground. I t was time to make a cast. I was some two hours before I had a bite, the rod tip moved sharply about an inch, a minute or so later, the rod tip moved some three inches, striking I hooked a fish that could fight, despite the cold water with little flow, it was for a few minutes give and take, it was eventually in the net, I heaved a sigh of relief. The fish weighed 4 lb 2 ounces, I was happy with that. With my Jet boiler I soon had a mug of OXO. As I looked around there were several birds, blue tits, blackbird, also robin, in the willow tree there were seven or more long tailed tits, soon a great tit, joined in the feeding, across the other side of the river were a large number of field fare feeding on the berries of an hawthorn tree.
After an hour with no more interest, I changed to a bit of luncheon meat, some thirty minutes later I got two quick sharp taps on the rod tip, nothing I thought were worth striking at. Fifteen minutes later I retrieved the tackle to find the meat in place with no sign it had been picked up, but I was convinced it didn't want the meat. I fished for two hours in the dark until 1900 hrs when often I get a bite or two, but not a sign of any action, with everything frozen, a clear sky with full moon. I called my taxi driver to pick me up in thirty minutes. I'd enjoyed every minute I was at the waterside. Yes, it was below zero temperature's but with modern clothing and good footwear, I was warm enough. In another twelve months I will be in my 90's and hopefully still getting out to the waterside.
Robin Smith with his 4 lb 2-ounce River Wyre Chub
My winter caught chub of 4 lb 2 ounces
Robin Smith with a big out of season brown trout
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