Sussex Stream Chubbing

This chunky Sussex chub fell for a lump of flake freelined on a deep corner

Editor Paul Sharman wanders down to a small local Sussex stream to target the chub and proves you don't always need barrowloads of gear to catch fish. Just keep it simple with a rod, reel, hooks and bait and enjoy some freelining success.

I admit it! I don't know the ins and outs of the latest coarse fishing rigs and baits and most of my gear is at least a decade old and some a lot more but does it matter? Well not to me it doesn't as I continue to catch fish large and small in the sort of locations I personally enjoy fishing. This means on the whole natural waters such as small rivers and streams and older ponds and lakes with plenty of bankside vegetation left to grow into and over the water.

The reason for this is I like nothing more than to stay mobile and stalk or sight-fish where possible or at the very least sneak up to a spot that I reckon should be holding some fish and drop a bait in to see what happens. All I carry with me is my rod and reel, some hooks and bait plus usually a net and forceps. In the case of this foray to a small local stream near me in Burgess Hill, the reel was loaded with 6lb line, I had a packet of size 2 Owner hooks which are nice and sharp and a few slices of fresh white bread and a landing net with a long handle due to the high banks of our typical Wealden streams.

This simple approach helped me land a dozen chub up to a couple of pounds fishing in 4 different locations on the stream and just shows the sort of fun you can have if you keep it simple and stay mobile.