The Closed Season Zander Quest Pt.130 - Eutechnics and Expergefactors

Some trampled grass, wild flowers disturbed, and to the left a short and fat dog poop a good 50mm in diameter. Look out for it as it’s a bankside features which indicates a section of cover which is a haven to big carp, if you find it, and hook in to something it will likely be big, very big.

This area is home to big Zander as well, well it was, 20 yards down is similar looking cover I landed a Zander of 8lb 10oz’s, a proper short and fat fish that given another couple of years of growth would have been a double for sure. 

This short stretch though may well have had its heyday, certainly the Zander numbers are down and I’ve not caught anything here over 5lb for a long time. If it wasn’t for the convenience and the fact that there could well be some lunkers still around I’d have probably forgotten it by now.

It’s the carp that has also keep it on my radar, because they are seeimgly here in numbers, and some good ones as well. They keep themselves to themselves most of the time but venture out in full view in random fashion. Be there when that happens you’d be amazed such a stamp of fish call this turbid canal their home. 

I’ve yet to land one though, hooked 2 lost two, their initial powerful run and the bullying required to steer them away from the snags have led to hook pulls both times. All very frustrating as the one I hooked the weekend would have likely gone 15 to 20lbs. It was the condition of the fish that was something else, not like the last carp I caught off the cut which was a proper runt.

Anyway back to the session, proper short and sweet. An hour and a half, the first hour trying to find some Zander with two deadbait rods, and to conclude the session I’d try for a carp where I found them hiding last time. It was a warm one as well, 19 degrees and quite pleasant to be out. When I was bankside though it really did look lifeless, and that’s how it remained for the duration I was there. 

The water was coloured from all the boat traffic during the day so ok, the carp might have been put off from leaving their holding spots, but where were the Zander? This on the whole is a highly productive area.

All very worrying indeed !!!!

A text message came from Nic from Avon Angling UK who also suffered the same fate. This fish were just not up for feeding. A change in temperature, atmospheric pressure, or I’m just not very good at location fish,who knows but I’m hit a bit of a wall again, which to be fair always seems to happen with the river season just round the corner.

Bobbleless floats and a motionless bobbin = lots of thinking time and you’d have thought that those things on my mind would only be amplified, but you’d be wrong. Fishing gives me the much needed solitude I need to seek to keep one’s mind on the right track. It’s odd but I don’t think of anything but fishing, one’s mind blank to those life’s worries that we all have. Some cycle, others go to the gym, do whatever works for you I say.