Chub Fishing in Clarksville

By Seth

The chub. Hard fighting, tough, and plentiful, they are a great fish to catch. They can survive in creeks and rivers too polluted and warm for trout, yet are sadly overlooked by anglers.  They are a pleasurable quarry, and will can be fished in colder waters late into the year.  Rather than drive to the Patapsco or another trout stream, one only needs to that a trail out in their backyard to find a section of the Middle Patuxent, which runs through Clarksville for an enjoyable day of fishing. 

Above: Typical Chub country.

​The Middle Patuxent is a "delayed harvest" trout stream stocked by the Maryland DNR, but very few trout survive past summer, due to heat. Chub, however, thrive in the Middle Patuxent, along with various species of panfish and smallmouth bass. The river snakes through Great Star Drive, and is found along many neighborhoods, and the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area, which includes many of the forest trails common to Clarksville.

Above: Typical Clarksville Chub,

Creek Chub endure the suburban development in Clarksville, and are adventures and hardy enough to survive throughout nearby all of Clarksville's streams. In fact, Chub have been found in mere trickles in the ground, feeding off insects that drop into the water. 

Chub eat a wide variety of things in the wild, and a variety of lures and baits work for them.  Nightcrawlers, which can be easily bought or found by flipping over rocks, are a very effective bait for them. If you want to get away from the slime and mess of nightcrawlers, mealworms work well. Read our article on fishing with them. In the summer, crickets, which can be caught with a net, or bought at local pet stores, make a great bait. Grasshoppers, moths, crayfish, and small minnows can be caught and fished. They viciously strike at fast moving lures (spinners and small crankbaits) and will often carefully inspect jigs and other slow moving lures and baits presented to them, especially in the winter months. During the colder parts of the year, Chub often develop "lockjaw" to large and fast moving lures, and will only strike at well presented, dead drifted jigs and similar baits and lures.

Above: The Middle Patuxent runs throughout Clarksville, close to houses. The logjam in the center of the stream holds many good sized chub.

Chub collect in slow moving pools to escape the current, as well as rock piles and fallen logs. They will hide under structure, such as submerged tree roots, for security, and will wait for food to drift by. Jigs work very well being drifted to Chub, and are cheap to replace if you cast too close to structure. 

There are many access places to Middle Patuxent in Clarksville, which is surprising picturesque, sporting small waterfalls and rapids, as well as moss covered giant trees, giving it a fall away feel. You can fish from the wooden bridge at Great Star Drive (parallel to the car bridge), or continue down the trail. There are many well beaten paths leading from paved trails in the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area to popular fishing holes.  Some hard-core anglers prefer bushwalking to their jealously guarded secret spots. Be careful about this; in the summer, there may be thorns and some poison ivy bushes. The Clarksville portion of the Middle Patuxent is surprisingly popular to fishermen! 

Whether you just want to practice for a trout fishing trip, or come to target the native Chub, Chub fishing in the Middle Patuxent is a pleasurable experience.