The Close Season Zander Quest Pt.151 – Coxcombs and Crab Lanterns

With DJ's on lockdown and the fact I've been working from home of late ones consumption of electronic music is on the increase.

You see in this time of social distancing a gigging DJ hasn't the luxury of applying their craft to their dancing masses, but they like me, must get their dose to keep ones mind in a good place.

The app Mixcloud if the medium of choice, I've been using it for a good while now, all genres are covered, something for everybody. For some it's book to absorb yourself in to, for me it's electronic dance music.

If you're in to repetitive beats like I am you have a look at Italians Gioli and Assia's quarantine gig from their abode.

Their talent, their enjoyment, and you can tell they are away from all the troubles which have really hit their country hard.

They like me, have one of those brains that can transform themselves from a bad place to a good one when beats get to 120bpm.

Fishing give me that in abundance, odd isn't it, from the pounding beats felt through the Skullcandy Crushers to being bankside and the tweeting of birds and quacking of ducks. The pastimes couldn't be more different, but the effects are the same, and what a time to carry out our pursuits.

For this frosty morning session I decided to come up to an area where I know a double figure Zander was caught.

A cracking looking fish caught on a lure, the shocked face of the capture all to see. You could see what a big fish would like it here too, some of the locks are very deep indeed, the grippa stop pushed up the line and then some more.

Now I've fished it a few times now, dawn, midday and dusk and not got anywhere near it. Most fish I've been catching are on the small side, in-fact this stretch is home to more schoolies than any of the stretches I fish.

I recognised the area straight away from the trophy shot and even pin pointed it down to the actual lock it was caught from.

Unlike pike in my experience though these bigger Zander are very transient indeed, catch it in one swim, it won't be there again. But hey, it's definitely worth trying as maybe this one was different though (clutching a load of straws )

Also if you think about it, if there is a Zander that big swimming here then the biomass must be sufficient to support its appetite. It had a good belly on it too, an likely to get bigger when it's statue of bait fish increases with it's mouth size.

Anyway to the session, I bite within minutes of putting the bait out within the big fish area, lead to one of the quickest bites and one of the smallest fish I've caught for a while.

Not the one pictured above, barely 30cm long, a waspers delight.

Now the baits were out for a good while once that fish was caught and no more bites were forthcoming, so a move was in order.

It was a good move too, the tangled mass of branches here led to multi bites, 5 Zander and one jack Pike. A frantic good hour of sport till a boat up from me opened the lock and the canal turned in to a river.

Another move to another one of the lock mouths, zilch. An enjoyable session though, very enjoyable. Roach the bait of choice for this session.

So where to fish next ? I'm not sure where to be honest, but certainly drop on to a fish at the minute, you're likely get a bite. Roving is the key, fish as many likely holding spots as you can.