Clear and practical article dedicated to fly fishing equipment and effective tactics of fly fishing for CHUB and marginally their larger fish cousins - asp - on the fly! If you do not know how to choose the right fly rod, fly line, the right fly, or the strenght of the leader, this article is the right reading for you in this period of fishing season! Do not hesitate to try the targeted fishing for coarse fish - chub on your fly rod on non-trout waters!
The chub fishing and overall fishing for coarse fish on artificial fly has become a very popular and full-fledged line of our sport fishing discipline. There are several reasons for this. Coarse fish are omnivorous and at the same time very gratefully accept our imitations of their main food ingredients! They are beautiful, shape and colorfully varied fish species, which are still quite abundant on the vast majority of non-trout rivers, moreover, in larger sizes, they are also quite strong and great fighting! There are many positive reasons!
But let me say that probably the main and slightly bitter reason that led to the active and targeted fishing for these fishe with fly gear was the deteriorating quality of salmonids in the majority of domestic trout areas in the Czech Republic! In view of this fact, more and more fly fishermen have simply shifted to fishing for other fish species, which are fully compensated for the absence of "spots", flags" and noble origins" by other and until recently unrecognized qualities to all of us!
The aforementioned CHUB is for fly-fishing - in terms of willingness to accept all kinds of artificial flies - probably the most rewarding fish species! That is why it is probably also the most frequently fished fish with fly fishing equipment on non-trout waters. So let's describe the most effective fly fishing methods (and everything associated with them) with which we can achieve maximum success during the whole fishing season!
DRY FLY Fishing For Chub is my favorite method mainly during the main fishing season of this fish - summer months June to August! In this warm season chub are very active right under the surface, above which hatch a large number of insects, which puts their eggs under the water blanket (caddis, mayflies), or fall directly on the surface (terrestrials - beetles and grasshoppers)! So prepare yourself for the great moments in which greedy chub also eat really large types of dry flies from the surface without unnecessary worries! You can read more about the best and most effective dry flies in the article "THE BEST DRY FLIES FOR CHUB FLY FISHING", in which I dealt in detail with the most important types of dry fly intended for chub fishing.
A suitable equipment for dry fly fishing for chub consists of a fly rod in the AFTMA 2 - 5wt category, (depending on the size of the fish caught and the size of the river, of course) 8.4 - 9 ft long. One could say that an universal fly rod is 3wt rod in 9 feet (275 cm) . The fly line should fit the fly rod category, and it doesn't really matter if you use a double taper (DT) or weight forward (WF) fly line. Definitely choose the strength of the leader according to the size of the fish you are fishing. Diameters 0.10 - 0.14 mm are suitable for smaller to medium sized fish, diameters 0.15 - 0.18 mm I use on large rivers when fishing for really large chub on large dry flies imitating terrestrial insects. The strikes and the fish fights in the strong river stream are really dramatic, so it is not desirable to use a leader with smaller diameter and risk losing a nice fish!
WET FLY Fishing For Chub is probably the most traditional and oldest fly fishing method used to fish this fish species! The most important tactics of fishing for chub and other species I have already described in the articles entitled "THE BEST WET FLIES FOR CHUB FLY FISHING", in which - of course - you will find the most effective patterns of artificial flies with a detailed description of their advantages etc.!
A suitable equipment for wet fly fishing for chub: We can say that we can use the same equipment we use when fishing with a dry fly - even with the same fishing season - without any major problems. The great advantage is therefore the quick combination of both methods - with one equipment at a time.
When targeting fishing with wet fly, it is possible to create a certain compromise on the equipment used for both dry fly and nymph fishing. I would recommend keeping the fly rod category the same (3 - 5wt depending on the size of the fish being fished), but the length can be slightly extended to 9 - 10 ft. In this fishing style, I personally use the Hover or slow intermediate fly line, especially on larger rivers with stronger currents and higher water columns. The big advantage of these lines in this situation is that these lines "cut below" the surface and do not affect the fly movement so much that they are quickly removed by the current, as if it were a floating fly line, which is more suitable for fishing on smaller, shallower or less flowing rivers. When using subsurface fly lines, fish have much more time to eat their prey.
NYMPH Fishing For Chub was not practiced until recently as the aforementioned fishing techniques! Obviously, it was mainly because the chub are fished mainly during the warm months when they are most active under the surface or in the water column, and preferably in the shore parts of rivers. But everything has changed gradually in the modern fly fishing! The clear and logically justified boundaries associated with the most suitable period for catching selected species of fish have been demolished by lust for all year long fishing, and so there has been an increase in the interest of non-others in catching this fish during the season - during the autumn and winter months. In this period, we will not succeed with dry or wet flies, of course! Due to the lack of food, the chub move from the shallow and, until recently, nutritious parts of the rivers more deeply, and it is advisable to fish them for suitable nymph patterns! You can read about the best technique and tactics of fishing and - of course - the most effective nymph patterns in the article "THE BEST NYMPHS FOR CHUB FLY FISHING".
A suitable equipment for nymph fishing for chub is very simple! 9.6 - 11 ft long fly rod with fine tip in category 2 - 4wt with either a fine French Leader or a very light fly line, for example - Level Line. Nowadays, the method of fishing with a French Leader is very popular in a large group of fishermen because of its sensitivity, which is justified in autumn and winter, as coarse fish is no longer so active and "aggressive" during the summer months - on the contrary - and the fish strikes are often very subtle and little visible!
STREAMER Fishing For Chub & Asp is a fly fishing technique intended especially for those who wants to target the largest specimens of these fish species! In this paragraph, I would like to add asp to the chub, which we will often fish with streamers along with the chub, mainly because the asp and chub inhabit the same fish zone in non-trout waters and feed on a similar type of food - small coarse fish and fish fry, which - of course - we must take into account when choosing our flies!
If you are more interested in the correct technique and tactics of streamer fishing for these fish, I will take a closer look at it in the article "THE BEST STREAMERS FOR CHUB FLY FISHING", in which - of course - you will find the most appropriate chub and asp streamers with a close description of their advantages and work with them during the fishing!
A suitable equipment for streamer fishing for chub and asp is slightly heavier than in previous methods! Fly rod in category 5 - 7wt, 9 - 9.6 ft long ideally with faster tip action for better and more accurate casting! Fly lines can be used in all types, but subsurface Hover or intermediate lines are the most suitable and versatile, which will be used for both river and still water fishing! During the summer months there is an excellent floating fly line with which I fish these "surface predators" with great success with foam poppers and gurglers. Due to the brutal attacks of these pseudo-predators on our streamers, it is advisable to use thicker leader with a diameters 0.18 - 0.23 mm, which will withstand the sharp strikes and strong fights of these gold-brown or silver-gray river torpedoes!
