The Close Season Zander Quest Pt.209 - Four-flushers and Forisfamiliate

What a horrible couple of weeks of rubbish weather we are having, as deceiving as BBC's Martin Bashir to gain and interview, these weather Gods really have given us some hope, and then more than once now pulled the jumper over our heads and given us a few kidney punches for good measure, they've taken us on a ride of late and I'm not happy.

You just cannot plan anything can you really, I don't mind a little rain when fishing but the showers have been heavy and those >20 mph winds are a no no for me. I just don't enjoy when it's like that, and would rather wait for better conditions. 

If only there was something to lighten the mood !!!!!

I heard this week, the hunt is on for the owner of a winning lottery ticket bought in the Three Rivers District of Hertfordshire and worth £10,000 per month for 30 years, that would do me at the minute, work as relentless as ever, over 30 years in to my working wife, its not getting any easier. 

The ticket scooped the top prize in the Set For Life draw on May 6, matching the five main numbers of 2, 7, 25, 40 and 46 and the Life Ball of 4. Apparently the lucky ticket-holder has until November 2 this year to claim their prize, which is a day before my birthday.

 

Now I did the lottery for years when the Wife and I when during a drunken evening pre-kids we picked out our lottery numbers from a chuck of a ball on a roulette wheel and those numbers we did week after week, year after year.

When the probability for winning changed dramatically when some time ago they added another 10 numbers on top of the 40, we decided to jack it in completely and spend it on someone more worthwhile. 

The odd small win here and there no recompense for the outlay over those years.  Now talking of lottery numbers, Nic's came up big time when the 10lb 12lb Zander caught at the hallowed stretch came out of the blue just like a lottery win can do. 

I had planned to fish in to dark with Nic but with the temperature on the plummet from 10,00pm and something family related came up out of the blue for Nic I decided to hold off and chill with some wine and a zombie movie (Army of the Dead on Netflix average at best) in the evening and do what I do best and rove 12 hours later instead.

So for this morning session with the recent success on a stretch much closer at the back of my mind, was I wasting my time here ? and ones time better spent in waters I'd could walk to ? session no 5 or 6 now at the hallowed, will my numbers come up ? 

....lots of questions that need answering isn't there !!!!

....now I'd had some new deadbaits turn up AGAIN at the start of the week so it would be out with the smelt gold's on one of the rods, a head turner if there every was one and the other rod a small humble roach. The plan was to fish some new swims as well as the hallowed to see if I could out a nice fish on the bank.

There are decent Pike here too, so the fluorocarbon was swapped for a relatively kink free 7 strand wire trace, anyway enough of the planning better get fishing !!!!

Well after losing a 4 or 5lb Zander first chuck tight to some boats when the point of the circle hook was masked by the roaches eye I should have realised then this was going to be one of those sessions. I just couldn't settle in any swims and walked almost 6 miles going back and forth likely fish holding areas.

I gave the hallowed swim more of a go but even the Pike weren't interested, an hour or so with the baits left out not even a nudge or a bobble, well apart from a crayfish murmur I think. Lock pounds always contains fish so I walked to the end of the stretch and the first chuck of the baits something hit one of the baits on the way down. 

Sure enough I left the bait settle and the float jumps in to life. At least it was some interest I suppose but only a tiny Zed with eyes bigger than it's belly. It didn't take long for another bite but again only a small Zed out on the hunt. 

The boat movement by this time had increased so much so the locks were not fishable really. So I retraced my steps and this time going right to the top of the stretch I'm prepared to fish.

Who says fishing is for the lazy, for me it's a big part of my exercise !!!! 

Now usually when the canal is light green like it is here usually when the boats stir up the bottom you can almost guarantee a bite in swims with cover, the Zander come out from where they are hiding for a mooch about to see what fish have been disorientated but not for this session, it was very quiet indeed.

On the rove I got speaking to an elderly gentleman who was fishing the pole and he'd only been fishing an hour and he'd caught some nice hybrids, a couple of decent roach and also a big rudd, he'd be bagging up no doubt, his bright blue whip adding some colour to the dull day. 

There is such a high quality of fishing to be had here with all the species you can only wish to catch on the canal so maybe Nic's approach is the best way to go. Fish for anything that comes along with a sleeper rod for a predator, seems a shame that with my approach I'm missing out on what is a stretch full of fish, and I'm only fishing for one species well two I suppose as there is pike here too.  

With another schoolie coming to a roach bait another one dropped off too, this wasn't going well at all. The next time I will definitely fish in to dusk and in to dark because I couldn't quite put my finger on it but I just wasn't enjoying it really especially when I seem to fair better closer to home. 

Maybe my efforts haven't been that rewarding here, well on the Zander front anyway, the pike, yeah ok a PB of 13lb 8oz cannot be sniffed at, but this is a Zander quest after all. 

The huge body of water some of which you cannot fish is the stark reality of fishing this sort of stretch of canal, a needle in a haystack for sure, but a big fish will slip up eventually I'm sure of it. The fridge here is packed full to the rafters of scooby snacks, it only takes one fish to let her guard down and that prize will be mine.

Pt.209 can do one, on to Pt.210 next, with the weather improving midweek let's hope I fair a little better.