5 past the drunk....

I had a trip to my Zander banker swim yesterday at the Grand Union yesterday evening, I've never blanked here, it seems to be full of them. With my mate Simon womanising in Croatia I was on my tod. My usual set-up for Zander a lure rod and a headless Roach on the sleeper rod. I've been spending the pennies again and I've bought myself a savage gear landing net as not only is it easy to carry as it folds in half and the handle retracts into the net, the mesh is rubber so makes hook removal easier.

Within minutes I lost a fish on the lure and then nothing for an hour. The quiet spell changed when the bobbin rose and the bite alarm started to sound, a fish was on. It looked a good'un too and despite thrashing about it was landed. Yeap, as suspected hooked firmly in the scissors. Hook removal couldn't be any easier. These Mustad Bass hooks really do work well, I'm a convert that's for sure.

It was a PB too at 3lb 2oz. Still a small Zander in the scheme of things but considering I've only had a handful of sessions to try for them I'm doing ok. During those sessions the lure worked best during the morning sessions and the deadbait in the evening. In my experience they seem to feed in waves and sure enough as soon as the deadbait settled on the deck a fish took the bait again. Don't mess around allowing the the bite to develop just strike on the first indication. I wasn't sure a 6ft rod would work that well but it's fantastic, easily manageable on the towpath and as it's one piece it's so easy to carry if fishing a stretch of canal.

It was like a winters day, cold and damp. Can we have some decent weather please. The recent rain did seem to have topped up the levels though as it's the highest I've seen it in recent times. I banked another 4 Zander so I glad I made the effort to go.

With the light fading and the first passer who was three sheets to the wind I left sharpish. I seem to be less tolerant fishing the evenings now, not sure why as I've never had a problem and I've fished well in to dark before. Canals are different to rivers though I suppose as the towpaths are walkways they are frequently used by the great unwashed . This coming season maybe I need to fish opposite the haunting silhouette and ghostly history of Guys Cliffe House, do that, you can do anything.

Talking of Zander, there was a British Lure Angling Championship qualifier on the Grand Union in the Midlands the 11th of May, it was the LAS canal stretch so not a mile away from where I was fishing. 33 anglers fished it and no angler caught more than 3 fish and lots of blanks. Maybe I should have entered for a bit of fun, then again you can see how localised they must be. I think I've definitely found a hot spot.

1st Alan Brown, 2 zander 85cm
2nd John Cheyne, 1 Perch 2 zander 84cm
3rd Dariusz Swiezko, 2 zander 73cm

Oh and had a quick session at Snitterfield Reservoir Monday just gone, had a 14lb mirror on the sleeper rod, lost a decent crucian and caught a few others.