Snags, structure, hidy holes...

... call them what you will, but pay attention to these bountiful places.  They are too good to miss!

Those of you British anglers, who may have spent some happy times coarse fishing before now, will probably be very familiar with the chub.  A beautiful creature, with a big, all enveloping mouth, that bites boldly but lives timidly.  Chub like to hide in snags.  Tree roots, tangled, flood-borne, woody debris, weedrafts snagged on bridge supports are all excellent places to find chub.  Show yourself to a chub though and he will just melt before your eyes.

Chub are not alone in liking their living quarters to be surrounded with snaggy branches and tree roots.  Carp too can be found near to, or within, the most tangled of hidy holes.

I understand that, in the USA, bass enjoy lurking in similar places.  The expert bass angler makes it a special skill to identify "structure", knowing that here is a place where bass can usually be found.

Wild trout, both wild brown trout and wild rainbow trout, like these snaggy places too.

  
Here is a little spot from yesterday's visit to the Derbyshire Wye and below is the delightful wild rainbow trout who lives there.

When catching a fish in such places, the technique can best be described as "hook and hold", with no line being given unless absolutely forced so to do. Those first thrashings can decide all. Hold on enough to guide the fish out of its fortress and you then have a fair chance of winning the argument.



Regular Rod