Hemp Seed For Chub?

[Mark]

Is it worth using hemp seed as a loose feed when fishing for chub, I'm not sure if chub like scatting about for hemp on the bottom like barbel do.

[Kingfisher]

Yes chub will feed on hemp seed Mark. I used to use hemp seed as a loose feed for them but now I soak wild bird seed for 24 hrs then boil it and they'll feed on that just as readily as they did hemp.

[Shaun Harrison]

Better sticking with sensible sized baits that can be fished effectively on sensible sized tackle. Chub aren't put of with a decent mouthful. Get them preoccupied on tiny food items and you can start to make things difficult in tempting bites on anything but very light gear.

[Kingfisher]

I should have probably added that I mixed mine with bread crumb and balled it in. The weight of big balls get it to the bottom quickly, though I don't worry about the attention from smaller fish as they'll work as an attractor for the chub and the chub will soon push them out.

[Match Aerial]

Hemp and caster mark

[Mark]

To be honest I don't loose feed when I'm fishing for chub. I use big baits on a 4 or 6 hook. Sometimes I might put a bit of bread in or the odd small piece of cheese paste.

[Chris Bettis]

Chub I have found will take just about any bait, large or small. I think we do not want them grubbing around for small items of feed like Hemp and will as a rule either use bread mash or samples of hook bait like cheese paste. It is a rare day when they will refuse bread or cheese and I never bother with anything else, as a point of interest the Chub Study Group records show that most chub over 4lb that have been reported fell to bread. A point worth keeping in mind i think.

[Dave Burr]

When baiting with hemp for barbel its inevitably chub that gets on to it first. When you catch a chub from a bed of hemp it will often be filled to the gills with the stuff. Although not generally used in the winter, especially in high water conditions, hemp is a brilliant attractor especially if used with corn or pellets.

As for scatting about (I assume 'scatting is a local term ), chub are quite happy to chase loose feed all over the place and will go at bottom baits with their tails up and sending up puffs of silt all day long. Fed on maggots they will chase all over the place and other fish will join the fray from long distances. I've watched chub travel two hundred yards upstream to get in on the action on the Wye.

[Tengisgol]

Some of you may know the little bridge that goes over the Lea on the Kings Weir stretch. I once put a few pints of hemp off there to see what would happen and, after twenty minutes, there must have been fifty big chub with tails up and heads down. It was totally remarkable.

I think it was Shaun though that made the very relevant point about preoccupation. When that is the likely result (that level of craziness in the fishes behaviour) you need to think very carefully about what you are hoping to achieve.

[Mick]

I'm with Shaun on this one Mark. A big lump of cheesepaste or crust allowed to roll under a feature on the near bank after introducing a few bits of cheese or bread mash. Lovely chubley!!