The Thames around Oxford has been producing some cracking chub over the last few weeks.

Stephen Harris, from Blackbird Leys, banked two fish of 6lb 7oz and 5lb 7oz from Godstow, using maggots on the feeder.

The six-pounder beat his personal best by seven ounces and Stephen also caught a smaller chub and lost four other fish during the session.

Pat Newman from East London fished the Thames near Oxford and had three bites, connecting with two of them.

The best fish weighed in at 5.4.0, falling to breadflake. Pat fed in a steady supply of liquidized bread to keep the fish interested.

Also fishing the Thames near Oxford was angler Alain Urrety, who had three good chub of 5.0.0, 4.5.0 and 4.2.0.

Alan, from Shropshire, fished breadcrust on a size 2 hook to 6lb main line.

I have never caught a really good chub from the Thames, but I have caught good fish from the Cherwell, the best a fish of 5.0.0 over at Kirtlington.

I was fishing under a bush with a simple swan shot ledger and crust. Bread is such a versatile and consistent bait, especially in the winter. It has so many uses like crust, flake, paste and can be flavoured or mixed with cheese.

Over the next few weeks, I will be featuring the Thames in this column, starting today with the stretch from Carrot's Ham to Kings Weir.

This reach is controlled by North Oxford AS whose season ticket costs £27 or £4 for the day. They are available from local tackle shops.

Parking is at the University Field Station at Wytham and then a walk across to the river.

The river's average depth is 8/10ft, with plenty of interesting swims to be fished. During the summer, skimmers and roach are the target fish, with the groundbait feeder coming into its own. Maggot, caster and chopped worm all work well on this stretch.

In the winter, pike and large chub should be the target. There is a large head of pike in this area and most methods work.

For the chub, the maggot feeder is a good starting point, but other baits like bread and cheese will also catch.

There are a few very big chub here and a method that does work is deadbaits.

There are a few crayfish in this area, but they should not be too much of a problem.

Despite low water conditions at Farmoor, it is still producing good trout, although you need to cast a good distance out. The season finishes at the end of this month and restarts on March 16.