Maggots or casters work best on rivers where you can attract a shoal of chub. If you build up a swim with regular feeding eventually the chub will move in and you can get a fish a cast as long as you don't spook them. You have to be patient though, as it can take a couple of hours to draw the chub in and get them searching for the bait.

Bread is better in small overgrown rivers as a hit and run bait. A ten pence piece size lump of flake or crust on a size six round-bend hook direct to six pound line, a swan-shot leger and an Avon rod is all you need. First cast in each swim is your best chance, so make it count. If you get a chub, have one more cast in the same spot in case there's another one around; give it ten minutes then move.

That's not to say groundbaiting won't work, because it can. If you walk the river first and put a couple of handfuls of mashed bread into every likely spot, then return to the start and fish them in order you can pick up a chub within seconds in each spot. Put in another handful of mash before moving to the next one to keep them topped up.