The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

During my fresh water angling years, the chub was one of my favourite fish. I spent hours learning about them and fishing for them and I caught some good ones, but none as big as these I found on a visit I made to the UK in 2004. They are in the weir pool at The Trout Inn at Wolvercote in Oxfordshire. As a bit of interest, the weir pool was the subject pool in the Morse episode called "The Wolvercote Tongue". Many years ago, I sat at the table Morse and Lewis shared as they drank their beer which, of course, was paid for by Lewis.

They do look good indeed!

I know that weirpool well as it is right next to the pub and the fish are there in their 1000s and accept all kinds of offerings from the patrons of the pub. The chub have grown fat on chips I suspect. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a 10lb'er in there.
My first visit to the pub was as a 12 year old and the sight of all these huge fish so close produced a mixture of feelings of awe and excitement but also frustration at not being allowed to cast a line although there was another boy there who stood by the edge out of the way of the tables and had some line and a hook tied to his leg. He put some bread on the hook and threw it in and of course it was immediately taken by a beast of a chub. He then tried to look innocent as he wound the line in by rotating his ankle. Unfortunately I was called away before witnessing how he landed it.
I have seen huge chub and bream shoalling there. It is well worth a visit in the summer when the water is low and clearer.

When I was at Oxford, and a lift could be organised (I didn't drive then), I spent quite a few enjoyable days and evenings ogling the fish in that weir pool (and sampling the odd beer). Like Snape I was always a little frustrated not to be able to cast for them! We didn't sit at the 'Morse table', as this was in the far-off days a long time before the Morse series made Oxford famous

Now I know the property I'll be buying when I win the euromillions lottery. I remember going for lunch there on my way back from London, a lovely spot.

I had lunch there a few years ago and gave most of it to the fish,there was some enormous specimens drifting around.

Am I right in thinking that this weir gets a brief viewing in Tales from the Riverbank? The pike episode. I think shown in the summer with pike waiting to feed on the bream and chub

J.T wrote:They do look good indeed!

They certainly do.

Wolvercote was where Pete Stone lived wasn't it? There's a plaque dedicated to him that the Barbel Society arranged after his death, the unveiling of which was a real who's who of the angling world.

Pete wrote much about Wolvercote, the untouchable fish and those that he did legitimately fish for nearby. Lovely place and a pub I must visit in the summer.

I also know this pool and have looked down from the road bridge with eyes boggling and whirling like a demented tumble dryer at the size of the Chub living there.

One night, after a biteless day fishing for Chub upstream on the main river, myself and a friend stopped on the bridge on the way back to the car. I think it was late October or November time. We looked down (as the pool is gently illuminated at night by the terrace lighting) and started seeing dark shapes in the shadowy areas of the pool; the shapes then began moving. I don't know why but it was a reflex action probably, I reached into my rucksack and got my sliced bread out and began dropping bits into the head of the pool. Within a few minutes we had these nocturnal giants slurping the bread away with gusto. We stayed on the bridge till we ran out of bread such was the fun.

In a way, I kind of like the fact you cant fish for these Chub as they are clearly humanised and after catching several over nine pounds one would surely get bored anyway.......