The Closed Season Zander Quest Pt.128 - Queer Morts and Quest Concluders

Every cloud has a sliver lining, you see after a somewhat frustrating session, a long conversation with a fellow angler who spends his life on these turbid waterways which happened have giving him some of my deadbaits, a location of a 14lb canal Zander was shared.  It was at an area to be honest had been off my radar, you see if there are lots of boats moving around and towpaths to be trodden by gongoozlers and poo bag swingers, they all can be found here.

I've fished it for sure but only a couple of times and yes, there are Zander here, but if there are big'uns around that's got my interest back again, so I might try a couple of times post tea sessions to try and bag myself a quest concluder. Now whist moored up for the evening fishing a chunk of bread under a float the fella had been done over like a kipper after a carp hoovered up his bread and made off with it.

I was here for carp as well as I'd spotted a small group the weekend just gone in an area that I spot them from time to time. However for this session despite leaving the bread bait out for a while nothing decided that it would like it. A Zedlet fancied a smelt though and sadly that was the only fish I managed.

Anyway above the moored boat is an area of thick cover that usually produces Zander, I say usually as it isn't what it used to be for sure. I'm not sure why, but more often then not I remain biteless these days, a banker no more sadly. Carp have this as a patrol route and that's exactly what happened for this session. I was fishing tight to some cover with a smelt and I noticed a fish coming towards me in the near margin, and looking at the water disturbance a decent fish as well.

Sure enough with the polarised sunglasses on as it passed by my feat it was a golden fully scaled common of decent statue, maybe 15lb or so, possibly more.

The problem was, I was out of bread, so the boater returned the favour and gave me a small baguette to help me out of the predicament I was in.

So a hunk of bread was dropped slowly in the margins and I stepped back from the water. A few freebies, I was hoping the fish would return.

Ten minutes later he came down for a natter, and whilst we were talking a couple of beeps from the Delkims and the rod top was knocking and tapping away.

A few seconds later the tip has properly bent round on the scope and fish is on, well it was on for a few seconds, as it wasn't a carp after all it was a Zander.

Yeap a Zander around 4lb or so had wolfed down the bread and in its bid to escape managed to shake its head and throw the hook. Now I've caught Zander before on boilies of all things so maybe I'm missing a trick, I should have a departure on fishing for Zander and fish for carp as I'd probably pick up some nice Zander too.

That's as exciting as the session got as crayfish I assume had a good go on the smelt and stripped it to the bone and with the boat traffic on the increase it was time to call it a day, one tiny Zed caught, but certainly encouraging to see a carp like that on the canal and also a location of another double figure Zander in the canal network I fish. If anyone deserves a lucky break it's me, this my 128 session in to ones quest for a cut double.

Please, don't make this quest of mine the rainbows end.