Chub Love

On a family vacation years ago, the only handy water was a tiny creek. We set off to explore it one afternoon, perhaps to catch some crayfish but noticed even more inhabitants and soon returned with our poles.

Anglers often debate which fish fights the hardest, but pound for pound, or in this case, ounce for ounce, the creek chub is worthy of this debate. It is an aggressive feeder and once hooked, refuses to quit fighting.

To set up your kids with some great fun, dig out your tiniest hooks, hopefully size 10 or smaller. I also grab some of the diminutive bobbers that are used for ice fishing or drifting jigs for steelhead. Little pieces of earthworms or grasshoppers will attract these sturdy minnows, which usually are no more than about 7 inches, but may reach 12 inches in larger streams.

Any light spinning or spin cast rod and reel combo. The tour guide at the Pumping Jack Museum in Emlenton, PA recalls the great spunk of these fish while catching them with a cane pone when he was a kid. A stealthy approach and long rods keep the action going if the fish get spooked.

Wherever you are vacationing, do not overlook ANY body of water. Chances are, it contains fun.

Andy Whitcomb

Andy is an outdoor writer (http://www.justkeepreeling.com/) and stressed-out Dad has contributed over 380 blogs to takemefishing.org since 2011. Born in Florida, but raised on banks of Oklahoma farm ponds, he now chases pike, smallmouth bass, and steelhead in Pennsylvania. After earning a B.S. in Zoology from OSU, he worked in fish hatcheries and as a fisheries research technician at OSU, Iowa State, and Michigan State.