Piscatorial Quagswagging

...the diary of a specialist angler in around the Warwickshire Avon and its tributaries.

Friday, 20 May 2022

Transient Towpath Trudging - Pt.33

The UK's biggest EuroMillions lottery winners have been revealed as a couple from Gloucester who scooped £184m with a lucky dip ticket. Joe and Jess Thwaite won a record-breaking £184,262,899 making them richer than Adele last week.

Mrs Thwaite, 44, who has two children with her 49-year-old husband, said the win will give them "time to dream".

Why the heck would you go public ?


I can only imagine those people coming out the woodwork with the begging bowls !!! Still good luck to them as often winning that sort of money doesn't end well judging by those that have won similar amount in years gone by. 

Quite ridiculous amount of money isn't it, wouldn't it be better with 184 separate winners of a million quid. Not how it works though is it with the probability something like 1 in 140 million 👀 to win the top prize yeap I'm not ready to spend my hard earned money on a ticket just yet. The first thing I'd buy is a new car because I made the mistake of leaving the bream slime riddled landing net in the car overnight and wow, does it pong, in-fact it didn't help the car being sat in the sun till lunchtime as I'm sure that only added to the issue.

Talking about papering over the cracks !!!


Now the probability of catching a canal fish can be increased significantly when fishing maggots, because let's be honest, every fish that swims likes maggots, but bigger baits tend to mean bigger fish ?

I'm sat on the fence with this because the bream I've been catching on the canal have been of similar stamp whether I'm fishing with a single red maggot or a large piece of bread. The Zander too, a larger bait doesn't always mean a larger fish, my PB Zander and also PB pike, 11lb 8oz and 17lb 8oz respectively taken on small sections of roach on baits I wouldn't have contemplated using a few years ago. 


But if bites are required the humble maggot is hard to beat hence why it's one of those baits that has remained in the anglers armoury when other baits have been and gone. Heck even the boilie bungers use them from time to time as an edge ? an edge ? not rocket science surely Shirley.

Bread mind you is also one of my canal go to baits which is what I'd fish for this short post work session, as it is very adaptable indeed. From tiny pieces of punch to gobstoppers for chub but unlike the maggot which catches everything under the sun, bread often does bring the better stamp of fish for me. But then my punches are 35mm not 4mm, not likely to get a small roach on that am I.


There is a reason why bread works well on the canal though and that is because it's such a visible bait and especially the waters I fish , where the waters are almost always coloured anything to help the fish find the bait better is a positive. Anyway I was back after the hybrids and there are a few here, as there are Zander as well so a sleeper rod out for Zander for another one of my double dipping sessions. 

To be honest half an hour in to the session I should have known the outcome because the boat traffic was frankly ridiculous. A couple were first time narrow boat users too because after one of them crashed in to the lock entrance both of them were broadside on the canal soon after that was negotiated and gave the far bank a proper seeing to. 


There is a holiday company you see not far away and this is the first lock they come to so it's always quite funny to watch, as was the boat that passed with 7 half cut women onboard who looked like had already drank the top shelf twice over.

I would have quite happily joined them given the opportunity as they were clearly having a better time than me. The dance moves three of them partaking in wouldn't have looked out of place at a cheesy wedding.


I fully expected a take on the Zander rod but nada and it was only when I ditched the bread and put on a couple of maggots in the margin that I got a bite.

Another Ruffe believe it or not which somehow managed to find the grubs in a chocolate brown canal that was trying its best to mimic a river. In the end I had enough of that area and decided to go to an area that usually produces Zander, usually I say because it didn't for this session and after a boater went through as full throttle without a care for the angler in situ it was time for the off as I wasn't enjoying it. 

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