Transient Towpath Trudging - Pt. 8

The stairway to dog poo alley oddly couldn't come soon enough, you see it means that the diary makers haven't their influence, or have had their say, well for a couple of hours anyway. 

Work has turned up a notch you see and it won't let up till the part releases have been achieved and the tooling kicked off.

Luckily for me these shallow waters local to me had risen quite a bit in temperature from the weekend. From 6.8 Degrees to smack on 10 degrees in a couple of days it just goes to show how the canals can change in such a short period of time.

This stretch of canal is rarely other than turbid, it is extremely coloured most of the time but I remember in the first lockdown when we were allowed to exercise locally (well thankyou !!) and the boats had to stay put too, it actually went pretty clear. 

In-fact it was quite an eyeopener because not only did the shoals of small bait fish show themselves but there was quite a few carp hanging around too, but just how shallow it is.

Those float stops on my Zander rods are further down the line than any canal I fish but I'm sure it is the colour that helps to get a few bites. The Zander here in no fault of their own have called this area their home for a number of years now and are here to stay.

The 9lb fish and a 8lb 10oz I caught here may well have sold up and relocated but there are always bites to have if you're up for a bit of roving.

Roving is often the key in Zander fishing, because take this session, you see only one swim produced bites and those bites came quick when the fish were located. I use smaller baits on this stretch because missed bites and dropped runs can be frustrating if you don't. 

I'm not talking a few swims either, ok, not quite double figures but not far off. These fish are often in pockets still this time of year when the countdown to spawning is on.

Stumble upon them and you can catch multiple fish and catch multiple fish I did, ok three small schoolies but let me tell you they don't like being caught at all.

They often go off on a spirited run when hooked which is fun to watch and then go all tense and aggressive if banked because basically I'd gate-crashed their party. 

I could have stayed another hour till dusk but I've never found an issue catching Zander in daylight hours, even in bright sunshine. So I went away with a well being boost, and that's what these convenient sessions are all about. 

On to the next one. !!!