“Not sure to be honest”
“Oh yes, I think they are”
Careful now, got to line the boat up with ponderous precision, it’s a small opening after all.
“I never knew a barge could go so slowly”
They are eventually in, should have brought my gas stove, could have cooked us up a full English whilst we wait to get the bait out. We’ve no choice but to become gongoozlers.
The Jack Russell’s out complete with life-jacket, the elderly owner with windlass in hand.
He’s surveying his quandary, hmmm, hang on a minute he’s attached it to the paddles.
“We’re getting somewhere”
Easy now, don’t turn it too fast, might put your back out.
“Good, take your time, half a turn then stop, then repeat” “He’s succeeded”
Back, against paddles
“CRACK !!!!!!!”
Whoops, he’s bottomed out the gates, I thought it was his knee for a minute, yeap, he’s tried to close them. Oh I know what, I’ll push them the other way, that should work.
Finally, they are out, and on to the next one in a sloth like manner.
I’d give Hatton flight a miss if I were you....
Luckily it was the last swim Danny and I were to fish. We had planned to fish the Avon for Zander in to dark, but both agreed we probably we wasting our time and the session would likely end fruitless.
So it was an early start on the cut to see if the Zander were biting. As like-minded canal Zander anglers it’s always good to meet up. We’ve a professional and businesslike approach to targeting them and successful because of it.
We both have had some decent fish from the canal now and my biggest of 9lb to date, Danny even bigger and I’m sure a double is there for the taking. The conditions were not ideal though, some horrible rain for the first couple of hours put a dampener on it but still Zander were caught.
Nothing of size but with Zander fishing we both agree, you stumble on a bigger fish the likely hood it won’t be in the same swim again. The bigger specimens are transient so it’s a matter of getting as much banktime as possible.
Danny’s ‘washed’ out looking baits out did my fresher looking roach deadbaits and I’ve said before the condition of them doesn’t really matter that much.
They were in scrapping mood too, not the biggest of fish but the bend in the rod was deceptive the result an average cut schoolie.
Danny alternated between dead and lure, dead and dead. I for the majority of my canal Zander fishing, exclusively floatfished deadbaits.
What I’ve found though, is the colder the better so once the first frosts hit, they will likely be feeding more heavily particular the larger fish. Still, find some pocket of fish and they are decent sport when the river is out of sorts.
Come March when I’ll start my Zander challenge again, I’ll be concentrating one particular canal and plan to fish pastures new and stretches very familiar to me.
I cannot wait….
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