He told us “I was on the Hampshire Avon – a venue that’s been in good form over recent years – with chub my target. This river is famously weedy in the warmer months, but after finding an area of clean gravel between weed beds, I introduced a few handfuls of pellets and boilies and the fish were immediately on the bait.

My opening gambit was to use a 3oz inline lead and a 15lb soft braided hooklink. My thinking behind these components was that they’d act as a bolt-rig and stop the fish from mouthing the bait and getting away with it. My hookbait 15mm boilie from NX Baits, fished alongside and a small PVA bag containing just six of the same boilies. Immediately my approach paid off, and on my first four casts, I landed three good chub of 5lb exactly, 5lb 8oz, and 6lb 1oz.

It was a great start, but afterward, things slowed right down. In winter, when you can’t see the fish, it’d be easy to up sticks move swim, however, in the clear river, I could see that the group of fish that had once been feeding confidently were now cautious and had backed off the initial spot. I decided therefore to rest the swim, introducing feed without casting to build their confidence back up before dropping the rig back in, catching one, and then repeating the process.

By doing this throughout the remainder of the day I was able to pick up the odd fish, but by evening, things had changed again. I felt that the bigger, craftier fish might be hanging way downstream at the back of the swim, picking off the odd free item of feed. On my first cast to the new area, I had a violent take, with a heavy fish giving me a few heart-stopping moments as it managed to get in under the nearside bank vegetation – a classic chub move. But with some luck, it was persuaded to swim out and was soon in the net. At 7lb 5oz, it was my third-biggest chub ever and a new summer PB. I was amazed to have one so large this early in the season.

That day, I ended with eight chub, six of which were over the 5lb mark. It was a brilliant session by any standard and I returned the following morning, hoping for more of the same success. I tried several swims but made a few errors and didn’t manage anything through the day. But in a new swim, the last one I’d try before packing up, my fortunes changed. As I’d observed the previous day, the bigger fish hung at the back of the swim, so I sat and spent time feeding pellets and boilies by hand. This drew the smaller chub to the top of the swim but left the bigger ones at the back. After casting to the very end of the swim, things paid off when I connected with a heavy fish that gave an uneventful fight but turned out to be a giant at 7lb 7oz. It was another summer PB, and my second biggest chub of all time.

If you’re waiting until winter to start your chub campaign, I’d encourage you to sneak out for an early session. Granted, the fish won’t be at their peak weights, but you can learn lessons about your quarry that’ll serve you well for the remainder of the season.”

Well done Adrian!