Most specialist fishing relies on trapping in one form or another. There are few opportunities to actually hunt the fish we catch. Lure fishing and floater fishing for carp come close, as does the subject of this article, stalking summer chub.

Chub during warm weather can be very frustrating. With the rivers low and warm the amount of dissolved oxygen will be relatively low, leading the fish into an almost comatose state at times. Often finding the fish is the easy bit, but catching them is far more difficult.

I was horrified to read, the other day that a certain Mr. R. Brookes, in his book: ‘Art of Angling’ describes one of the best techniques for chub as: "dibbling butterflief with their wingf cut off".

Of course, any sane angler would pale at this suggestion, but Mr Brookes was by no means insane. He wrote his treatise in 1740 and whatever you might think of his spelling or animal welfare politics now, his text set me to thinking: Why don’t we use the fruits of our countryside more often? Considering the fact that every inch of bank side is teaming with suitable baits that are not only readily accepted by the fish, but also free of charge?

The Speedia centrepin is a relatively cheap, light reel, made mostly I believe between the late 1940's and early 1960's. They have a stamp "WR Products " on the back. I'm not sure what this stands for, but have heard it is the initials of the famous midlands gunmaker, Westley Richards. I've not been able to confirm this. I have also heard that they were made somewhere on the south coast, Brighton maybe, so that might discount the Westley Richards theory. If anyone reading this knows more, I'd be grateful if they would pass on the information.

Bargain, that's what these reels are! Much as I'd like to be able to
afford expensive kit, my lady wife would prefer that we continue to
pay the mortgage. This year I set my sights on catching a catfish,
having never caught one before. Though my carp rods were up to the
job, my reels were certainly not suitable. So when I spied these
Okumas brand new including postage for just £35 a pair, they looked
just the job.

The sun slowly slid down, pouring golden honey coloured light onto our backs. Our shadows lengthened before us. A cartoon silhouette of two anglers in hats stretched and distorted before us and our floats danced as a big fish cruised by in the shallow water
“Must have been a carp”
A pause.
“Or it might have been a tench”
“Nah. Carp”
Longer pause.
“Bloody big tench if it was”
“Mmm”
“Probably a carp anyway”
Another pause.
A float dips suddenly and the resulting strike sends a shower of spray into the air. A rod takes on its full fighting curve, then… it’s all over. The water is swirling, bubbles fill the swim and the branches stop morphing and return to their usual spot in the space-time continuum. The fish had reached the safety of the jungle snags and had shed the hook. I reel in. A large scale is attached to my hook. I’d struck at a line bite and foul hooked it.
“Yeah. You were right. It was a carp”

"The big advantage about fish in weed beds is that they feel completely safe in their concealment. Many times I have searched the open patches and watched nearly every fish hooked actually suck in the bait. These fish, barbel, chub, roach and dace, don't scare if the wading angler moves slowly and keeps casting movement to a bare minimum"

So wrote that eminent Angler and Author Peter Wheat in "Wader Fishing" published in The Anglers Year No. 2 in 1971.