Is The Chub So Fearful?

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Fishing tales

Among the majority of authors of fishing literature, and fishermen too, there is a widespread myth about the caution and fearfulness of the chub. Here are just a few quotes from different publications … "… Chub is careful and fearful", "Chub is careful and cunning", "Chub is a careful fish. A prerequisite for a successful hunt is camouflage and silence. " "The chub is a very shy fish that is difficult to get close to and which sometimes behaves much more cunning than trout." I am not going to convince and refute anyone, but simply tell an instructive story from my own practice.

Several years ago I had a chance to spend a vacation in the Smolensk region. I fished on the Sozh River. I fished from small bridges. On that hot July day, they didn't bite very well. They took mainly small scummers, brushes, roach, okushki. In the late afternoon, shepherds drove a herd of cows from a local farmer to the river. With a loud bellow, under the clicking of whips and the shouts of the shepherds, the cows noisily climbed into the water. What kind of fishing is there!

And I, quickly reeling my fishing rods, began to climb the hillock, heading home. This was repeated several times. But … Once, when I was climbing the hillock, I came across a miniature gray-haired old man in a faded baseball cap and a worn shirt, with a bag over his shoulder and a fishing rod in his hands. It turned out interestingly: I was leaving fishing, and he was clearly in a hurry to go fishing! Watching him …

When he reached the walkway, he took off his trousers and shoes, unwound a fishing rod, which was a long birch rod with a fishing line, without a sinker and a float, put something on the hook and, without waiting for the cows to leave, climbed into the water. Wandering up to his waist, he threw the tackle against the current and froze. The first swim did not bring a bite. But the second turned out to be successful: the rod bent in an arc and, the old man, after moving the fish for two minutes, pulled a very decent chub out of the water. This was followed by more and more. I caught the old man for about half an hour and fished out, probably, about a dozen rather weighty chubs. And there were also several retirements.

The next day, his fishing trip was just as successful. A few days later, when the herd left the watering hole, and the old man was not there, I decided to try my luck too. The behavior of the chubs clearly indicated that they clearly knew at what time the herd comes to the river, and therefore were waiting for this moment. On each animal was the darkness of all kinds of bloodsuckers, some of them found themselves in the water, becoming prey for fish.

Since I had grasshoppers, gadflies and dragonflies from the baits, I went to fish with them. I started with a dragonfly. The bite followed quickly, but the fish was not detected. This was repeated several times. Finally managed to fish out a small chub. Then, in a short period, I caught three more. Moreover, the same small ones.

Despite the fact that, while moving, I splashed on the water not only with my feet, but also with a rod; In addition, without disguising himself, he brandished a fishing rod, it seems that my manipulations did not frighten off the chub. The bite did not weaken. But here are the trophies … The old man was catching solid chub, and I was practically undersized. A natural question arose: why? I changed the nozzles: I put a grasshopper, then a gadfly, then a dragonfly. Alas, the big chubs for some reason stubbornly ignored my "treat".

The old man appeared a few days later. Again, his catch consisted mainly of large chubs. With a high degree of probability, one could assume that he was fishing with some kind of bait, different from mine.

I waited until he finished fishing, and when he passed by, I asked:

- What are you fishing with?

- What will it take, - he grunted without stopping.

- And more specifically? - I did not lag behind.

The old man said nothing and walked even more hastily along the path, obviously avoiding further questioning.

When I asked the local fishermen boys if they knew what kind of attachment grandfather was using in a faded baseball cap, one of them said: "Grandfather Pakhom is riding a chub." So I never learned anything.

But from fishing at a watering hole, I concluded: chubs are not so shy, as many authors and anglers claim. Later, without any precautions, I entered the water, wandered back and forth, and chubs sometimes pecked literally one and a half meters from me. What is the notorious caution!

I don’t presume to judge why this is happening. Maybe chubs consider a fisherman in the water to be something familiar, or see him as a kind of breadwinner, supplying them with food (insects fall from trees and banks into the water). However, be that as it may, but caution and fearfulness disappeared somewhere. Or maybe they just didn't exist …

Alexander Nosov