Bollies no joy

[andy76]

Good effort Kev , sadly I may not be out much in coming weeks)months as starting new job and not gonna have much time , fished Swale last night four chub no barbel and chilly for August / even September ,so tight lines all if I don't get out much likely no more reports but will jump on to see how people are getting on what a year 2020 will go down as

[jacques]

My opinion is stick with the basic bait the halibut pellet. The biggest problem with catching a Tees barble is putting a bait in front of one. They just seem to be few and far between with so much river to hide in. They aren't picky at all and any suitable bait will do. Why waste money expensive boilies.
Soaked 4mm in the feeder or dry in a pva net and clip. Two 10mm glued to a hair. I like single pre drilled 14mm with a band on the hair. The band pulled into the pellet and bait stop into the band. That way it stays on when the chub are tapping and pulling.

[Mick]

Strangely I've had quite good success on the Tees with boilies attached to a very very short hair so the boilie is touching the curve of the hook but not so tight that it impairs the hooking up, I've had chub to over 4 and half pound on this method, even had one chub that I had lost to a line break a hour early (took line round some boulders) I knew it was the same fish as my hook and boilie were hanging from it's mouth lol, but I do think it's a confidence thing, sometimes it's a idea to leave all other bait at home and only fish the one new bait, this way you don't have the option to swap and change bait to your old tried and tested every hour, it's a killer but if you do start get bites it does give you confidence in the bait 👍👍😉

[Mick]

Mine have all come to fishmeal,crab,squid and halibut, I tend to stay away from the sweeter,fruity ones just to keep the bream away...to some extent 👍👍😉

[Deleted]

I was on the Tees last night,Kev.
I had 4 chub all similar sized 2 pounders but it was very finicky,lots of pulls and sharp twitches but not anything I could hit.
I stayed on until it got dark but then the bats joined in and I became a nervous wreck watching the isotopes bouncing about so I gave up and went home.
The question of chub baits is an interesting one and I'm not convinced that it makes a lot of difference just like I don't think the rig you use matters too much either.
If we all listed our favourite baits we'd all have different answers yet we all catch chub because they'll eat anything that drops in front of them if they're hungry.
Personally I'd never go summer chubbing without meat or winter without steak but I always like to have a change bait in the bag aswell and I've tried all sorts this summer with limited success to be honest:

Halibuts-1 small chub.
Spicey pellets-nothing.
Boilies-nothing.
Lobworms-1 4lb chub.
Maybe it's simply because the Tees chub see plenty of meat but not much of anything else apart from bread so that'll be in the bag next time out  .
The same can be said for what we feed aswell,liquidised bread on its' own or flavoured with tumeric,garlic,curry powder,or laced with hemp or loose fed pellets which is a lot more expensive.
I can't say I've had more fish by spending more money,much more important must be watercraft, the condition of the river, the weather,and the time of day,some of which are out of our control so perhaps we shouldn't beat ourselves up so much when it all goes wrong.
Lobworms will cost you £6 for 10,Kev, and small perch will soon spend your money whereas a big tub of dendros is the same price,they're dead easy to keep on a cold garage floor and 2 on a size 8 will do the job just as well with plenty left over at the end of a session.