Transient Towpath Trudging - Pt.11

So this (just shy of) 400 metre containment where the canal '17 lber' was caught the big question is, is it still swimming these shallow and relatively turbid waters ? I'm not convinced myself because apart from the 11lb 8oz fish I caught that I know has been out a few times in and around the same area for a lucky few, the bigger ones I've caught >7lber I've never seen again despite fishing the same swims let alone the same area. 

But this is Zander fishing canal style, there are no hard and fast rules having been fishing for them for many a year now. 

Zander are certainly scavengers there is no doubt about that and they readily pick up static deadbaits when often lures have been ignored when chucked in the same swim by me. 

Both techniques have merit in their own right but for me having used both techniques it was deadbait fishing under a float that tended to pick up the larger Zander. 

After some issues with his phone the kind lure angler managed to get the picture over to me and after arriving at the canal I'd found the exact swim quite easily because a house in the background had a distinctive boarded up window and shallow pitch of its roof. 

To be fair a bit of a disappointment where it was caught from as I've fished here plenty of times, but then as I mentioned earlier this is canal fishing it can throw up decent fish when you least expect it. 20lb Pike anyone ? yeap I've got an exact pound number for that too (aren't I lucky)

This certain quest concluder (if it wasn't already over) was caught on a creature bait which got my eyebrows raising and my interest up once again, because a canal double on a lure, would certainly be a nice icing on the cake over my preference which is a roach or smelt deadbait. 

I prefer to fish my own way than follow the crowd and having seen the some the size of the lures they were using the weekend when they shared the information with me.

I'm sure I've harvested bigger items up my nose and if they saw using they'd be phoning for help and a straight jacket. 

Maybe this lump of a fish though liked something moving though so I dusted off the reel eel and fitted it to the lure primed for some action. 

Now this rather large lure has caught me some nice Zander and Pike in the past and in the water it just looks like it would provoke a reaction and switch that trigger we all know predators have. 

The canal here is very shallow indeed and something like this crawling along the bottom or midwater could well be the change that I needed to try and find out if the scales needed calibrating, or the capture was bang on the money.

It certainly looked a good fish and with it now holding another 1lb or so of spawn potentially this would be another fish worthy of the Angling Times. 

Now oddly unlike where I caught my own canal double this area is not known for the large biomass of silvers in-fact unlike the 'hallowed stretch' dangle a maggot here you could be waiting longer than I have for a well deserved break from work. 

Lucky a delivery from the very dependable online baits of some cheapo Zander packs meant that on the deadbait rod I'd have some 2-3" snack sized roach, and I've done well on these whole fish head turners, it can bring bites when larger roach sections have been ignored. 

The water temperature had increased to 11.8 degrees from being in the 7's and the canal looked great for a bite. The levels on this 400 metre stretch though had certainly dropped and a few chucks of the lure you get to realised just how shallow it is.

You could walk from one side to the other without issue and where the heck would a big fish like this reside. I fished near cover and also near a few moored boats but there was nothing doing whatsoever. 

The lure was getting the most interest, two proper hard bites where I assume a schoolie grabbed the tail of the eel lure. I often use a stinger but couldn't find them but I don't think the bites came from bigger fish.

The last hour in to dusk I left the deadbait longer than I usually do but sadly no bites materialised and left me wondering what the heck I was doing wrong especially when I did fish a lock swim beyond the containment where I rarely blank. Odd very odd, still at least the water is getting warm and the carp may well be removing their winter jackets.