Escape to the country and fishing.

British weather is perhaps unique in the variation that can occur in such a small spread of time.  Just hours can separate the sunshine from snow or thunderstorms.   The forecasts seem wrong most of the time but who would want their job in this country, I’ll have it in Egypt, ‘tomorrow will be sunny’ – I would be wrong once or twice a year but that’s ok.  As mentioned in previous blogs I would take no note of weather some 20 years ago, now I hesitate when it looks like the mix we have at the moment but eventually I have to go.

It appeared there would be a slight window of better weather on the Monday and Tuesday of this week so I made plans to get out then, zander and perch would be the target species.  According to the EA and many of our fellow anglers the zander is an alien species to be exterminated at the earliest convenience and without mercy.  I think otherwise.  Along with other predator species the zander has now found its appropriate level in the food chain, it is possible that in the early days of its introduction to a new venue it does run wild, but nature soon finds a balance and food supply controls all living things including ourselves.  My choice of venue was varied in that I could fish a lake that has produced a double in the past for me, a river that I’ve yet to get my double from, but it would be high in flood, or one of the local canals difficult to get the double figure specimen, but local and most likely to produce a fish, that would do.

From Coventry I can easily reach one of many canals, Grand Union, Coventry, Oxford and Ashby canals all pass within a few miles and all hold zander.  I have already fished the first three with some success but the Ashby as always been on the back burner, today would be perfect for that first trip.  Out came the high scale map and a quick look soon identified an area to begin my search.  I’m looking for an access bridge away from main towns etc.  This is because they are less likely to have been targeted by our European cousins who with set lines can decimate a section quite easily.  The EA used to run regular culling sessions on the canal but I do not know if this practice still continues, it did seem a total waste of time in that it made very little difference with too much canal to cover.  It does seem to me that the best control of small zander is a big one, they have to eat and the same applies as with pike – take out the big fish and you end up with lots of small ones.

                                                          Surely there are zander here.

I had passed a couple of my selected bridges where there seemed no access to the canal but then found one with good parking and a nice track down to the towpath.  At first sight the venue looked promising, plenty of bushes growing out into the waterway and when I checked the other side of the bridge there was even a small marina that could give the fish that little bit of sanctuary should a cull come past the section.  I had the rods set up and this would be a simple float over a trace with a single size 1 hook and either a section of roach, lamprey or sea bait to try and tempt the fish into a take.

                                                      My float amoungst the branches.
Even in the depths of winter I was not the only idiot out for the day, a canoe went past just minutes after my arrival and was full of apologies when he went back after his return some twenty minutes later.  Three barges were also on the move where I had for some unknown reason not expected any, no problem there since often the zander take just after a boat has passed but not this time.  As darkness fell I put the tackle away and walked the 50 yards back to the van, at least I had got out of the house even if only for a few hours.

                                                                  Dinner for a perch.

The next day was a trip to one of the commercials in the hope of tempting a big perch, this time Merv would come along as well.  It was slightly colder but with the sun shining it seemed quite pleasant and I could sit there looking at my float dancing with the attention of the small fish trying to take the full size lobworm without any success.  For the last hour I dropped the bait size down to the smaller worms but nothing took those either.   Merv did manage a perch of about 1lb-8oz on a smaller hook with two red maggots, perhaps I should have tried that as well but I felt the perch I was after could easily take my offering I’ll never know now if I was wrong!

The world of a tench fisher.

It has been a strange week with the start for me on the local canal at 4:30am hoping to catch one of those elusive silver bream.  It was mild, but I knew the temperature would be heading for the mid-twenties a little later in the day, by then I would be well gone since I only intended to fish until 8:00am.  My previous trips had all started later in the afternoon and the barges had been a constant pain until late in the evening when they generally stopped.  Today it was great, not one single boat had decided on an early start and my feed settled into the swim and stayed there.  Just a little of the general cloud with a few casters and maggots included was all that I used, this was then topped up with the occasional four or five extra caster/maggots just to give that falling bait attraction.  The idea was right and by the finish I had taken three bronze bream, four perch and a rudd, fair sport on the light gear but the silvers would have to wait for another session.

Then it was back down to the Reading and District water for those big tench that I hoped were waiting for John Found and myself to put in an appearance.  Reports were coming in of tench spawning on various waters about the area but although we looked there seemed no sign of that activity on this venue.  We had already decided to try a different bank and soon we were in place and fishing.  The weather was still hot with day temperatures around the 25C in the shade; fortunately there was some shade so I took full advantage of it although it did mean moving as the sun turned around and my shaded area moved with it.  The session proved almost as difficult as the previous one but at least this time I did land a fine tench of 7lb-1oz, not the target, but a step in the right direction.  The eel rod took just one fish of about 2lb-8oz so yet again a slight increase in weight and heading in the right direction towards my target for that species.

                                                                    7lb-1oz specimen tench

The ticket for the secret midlands tench water finally came so plans were quickly made and the following day saw me arrive on the bank just after 6:00am.  I would be fishing two rods with an artificial corn rig as previously described on one hook, and maggots on the other.  This second hook would include one of the buoyant artificial maggots to counter the weight of the hook as had occured with the corn rig.  By now we had suffered the fairly drastic temperature drop and the high point of the day was now more like 16C, comfortable but what effect would it have on the tench?

I soon found out that at the very least they would feed and it seemed that they had not spawned one this water neither as my first fish was a smaller sample but still carrying spawn and not at all fat.  The day passed pleasantly enough with the best fish of four being a male of about 5lb, a good scrap but not what I had hoped for.

                                                                 Nice male tench.

I returned the following day and this time being a bank holiday Saturday I decided to arrive early expecting a few anglers to be there.  Arriving at 5:15am I was first there and for a few hours I was alone.  By 7:00am I had caught four tench, but they were all small males, the baits had proven to be equal in that I caught two fish on each so proved nothing on the preferred bait side of the equation.  There then seemed a period of several hours with no activity, other anglers had appeared and they seemed to be doing just the same, then in the mid-afternoon the tench began to feed again and I quickly took a further three fish with the best going to 6lb-10oz.  These three all fell to the maggot but on so small a catch it proved nothing other than being of slight interest in the longer run.

                                                      6lb-10oz.  Best of 7 fish on the day.

That was it for another week, a good number of fish caught with a couple just about into the pleasing sizes.  Next week will be more of the same, but tomorrow I am at the Barbel Society Conference at the Hinckley Hotel just off juction1 of the M69.  As the first speaker I need to be on time but these tench sessions have got me into the early start mode so no problem there.  Tickets can be obtained on the door so maybe I will see you there, if not tight lines until the next blog.

Monster fish on light tackle.

I was at a loose end so decided to go down to local canal to try for the silver bream, not had one of that species that I’ve weighed so that is one of the targets this year.  Left home at 1:30pm so obviously it was not going to be a long session, but I could relaxed and take it as it comes.   I would be using my normal tackle for this light fish type of species, roach, crucian and those sort, 14ft Drennan Ultralight rod, with a size 20 hook to 1.5lb hook link.  Single red maggot and loose feed a few of these into the swim every 10 minutes or so.  I had a little of my mixed pellet and hemp left from the previous day on the Derwent so I used it as a light feed, not  too much of that though.

My first fish had me going for a moment but it proved to be a bronze bream of less than 2lb, the next time the float dipped I hit something bigger – a lot bigger!    My mind went through the various options, pike, zander, sizable tench, but that soon was left behind as this fish was too big.  All the time the obvious species was carp, the canals have lots of them and they do grow to a very large size.  Fifteen minutes later I was still in contact with the unseen monster but he was in charge.  Over the next fifteen minutes he lead me a merry chase going all over except directly in front of me.  Slowly I could see that the little pressure I was putting on him was beginning to tell, I saw the float for the first time and then I could keep the float above the surface of the water for most of the time.  I got him in front of my position and he just went round and round in a circle, but then he came within the netting distance and he was mine.

                                                              That tested the tackle to the limit!

Lifting him clear of the water I could only think I was destined to catch him, I had left the usual small pan net in the van and was using my 32 inch chub net, and that 1.5lb hook link had held since he made no long runs.  Merv came along and the scales showed a brilliant 20lb-12oz, my first English twenty for many years, but then I don’t fish for them.  It started to rain so we packed up early, the silver bream will wait for another day.