Chub Fishing

[Dew_Man]

Live near a local river that has a few pike in it and want to take the youngins out fishing.

Was thinking about using chubs. Are they a good option this time of year?

What is your favorite chub setup?

Shiner or suckers?

-Dew

[EBass]

You may want to read the fishing regulations. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/index.html

[Stick500]

yeh, unless you're fishing Pool 2 on the Miss. where there is an open catch and release season on game fish, pike season doesn't start until May 9 (same day as walleye and bass). WI and IA get to fish them earlier IIRC.

as for the chub question, yes creek chubs make an excellent bait but by MN law you either have to get them from a bait shop or fish them in the same waters you caught them in

EDIT if you catch creek chubs (by DNR definition a "minnow") in uninfected waters, or waters ONLY infested with milfoil, then you can transport them (up to 12 dozen) and fish in other waters- check page 21 and 24-25 in current regs

"Shiners" are really a type of minnow, and suckers are, well, suckers, and most people wouldn't call either one of them a type of chub

look them up in Google images and you'll see the differences

[Dew_Man]

Forgot so specify!! It is on the Upper Iowa river in Iowa.

[Tom Sawyer]

Live near a local river that has a few pike in it and want to take the youngins out fishing.

Was thinking about using chubs. Are they a good option this time of year?

What is your favorite chub setup?

Shiner or suckers?

-Dew

Chubs are a great bait anytime of the year, but shine in the fall when fish are looking to bulk up prior to the cold water period. I usually don't start using them until after they are done spawning. Mid to late June up here in central MN. I focus on Walleye with them, but the tactics are similar.

I use 3 presentations when I fish with chubs; Lindy Rigs, Jigs, and bobbers. Bobbers the least, mostly because I can't stand looking at a bobber, and I prefer to search for fish, rather than wait for them to come to me. I'm not speaking about "power bobber" fishing, just anchoring and fishing a specific spot on a spot. Pike are notorious for being ambush feeders so covering ground is to your advantage, going past more spots where they are hiding out will convert more strikes, if they want a moving bait. This is normally the case, and actually will even trigger them to bite.

Rigging can include, spinners, but generally I use the "KISS" system. Keep It Stupidly Simple. A hook, maybe a bead, length of snell, and sliding weight. Along with fine tuning these components, I may alter my approach to delivering the bait, or slightly changing how I "set the table" for the fish,.... hook placement in bait, or what I may do in regards to boat control to trigger fish to eat. The use of a bottom bouncer and good wave action produces a "slip jigging" technique a South Dakota friend of mine refined, and then proceeded to cash in on, during several tournaments on the Missouri river system. Learned a lot of things over the years through both tournament fishing and pleasure fishing, to make fish bite, and patterning a bite.

Jig fishing chubs also has it's place in anyone's bag of tricks, and can be way better then anything at times. Then again it can be exactly the opposite of what the fish prefer. The fish will tell you if the want fast or slow, or an up and down, vertical or horizantal. Gaining fishing experience, will teach you what will be the best approach for any given day, time of year, fish position, prevailing past and present weather, and so on....

[JBMasterAngler]

If you can get your hands on creek chubs, they are a phenomenal bait for pike! A couple years ago, a bait shop still had some in stock in the winter, and I preceded to have the best tip up action that winter than ever before!

They are fairly easy to keep as well, but don't keep them with your little minnows. They'll eat them! I've actually had creek chubs choke themselves to death when I've had them in the same bucket as crappie minnows

[Dew_Man]

Thanks Tom! Great stuff. For the kids I was just thinking bobber and lead about 2ft off the bottom. Bottom bouncers crossed my mind. But I never considered lindy rigs. Would you fish them just like you would for walleye??

[leechlake]

when I was a kid we'd fish for the chubs with little jigs and a chunk of worm on it and then fish for northerns with the chubs. I don't know which one was more fun.

We'd use really big bobbers and keep the chub about 4 feet off of the bottom. Some of the chubs are pretty big and if I recall we'd let the pike have it for a while and then set the hook only to have the fish not get hooked, they were just holding onto the big chub. You need to figure a set up where you hook the fish without gut hooking them if they keep the bait too long. Depending on chub size.

[Tom Sawyer]

You need to figure a set up where you hook the fish without gut hooking them if they keep the bait too long. Depending on chub size.

Quick Strike Rig......

Yes Dew fish the baits as if you were walleye fishing, just alter your location to where pike will be holding, or crusing.