Transient Towpath Trudging - Pt.45

Buffalo Si put me on to the exact swim yesterday he caught some zeds by leaving me a sign in the mud, a sign I actually walked past without even noticing, it was only when he appeared out of the blue that he pointed it out.

"OH, YEAH, didn't see that, 🙈, whoops !!!!"

To be fair I knew where it was just from the picture he sent me though and it didn't take me long to find it as it knew it was between two quite distinct landmarks. 

So I was back for some more blanking !!!!

You see the fish I lost yesterday felt half decent till we parted company so I might as well give it another got hadn't I. Canals can be so frustrating though as they are such a huge body of water they could be in one area one day and then gone the next.  

This area does hold fish though, it always has done in-fact up until the double figure fish I caught this stretch was home to my next two biggest canal zander, one of 9lb on the nose and another 8lb 10 ounces. 

The Zander fishing has certainly tailed off over the years though where bites are not at a premium.

This would be a double dipping session though as I'd fish a deadbait on one rod and fish a float lift method style, with some groundbait and bread on the hook. In more recent times I've caught some nice rod bending bream here and also some hard fighting hybrids.

I hotfooted it to the swim for around 7.00am and was looking forward to some peace and quiet up at turd tagging alley ® Bureboyblog  and bagging up.

Errrrr, best laid plans and all that, 3, yes 3 canoes within the first half an hour, 2 were tandems and the first one that went through was shouting to her mate who was literally less than a metre away sat in the front. 

I bet the moored boat loved that, probably woke them up from their slumber. No boats for this session which was odd.

Still at least the float fishing would be easier without all the palaver they can cause. Anyway with the dead bait out some Sonubaits supercrush green and a few pellets and maggots went in to the swim and the float settled nicely ready for a bite from a bream or a hybrid. 

I waited, and waited and waited.....

Rebaited, fed a little again, and...

I waited, and waited and waited.....

There was nothing doing whatsoever, not just in that swim, but a few others that I tried. I gave them a good go as well but experience tells me you need to move to find the fish. Not helping I get bored without getting bites and especially for Zander you need to find where there are holding up, as bites will come quick when they are in the swim.

In the end disappointed that even the bread on the float rod didn't get a nibble from a fish I sacked that off and went for a rove to an area a mile and a half away where in the past it was one of my banker areas not just for Zander but for other species too.

 

Not an easy task when the towpath is a mud bath at the minute but needs must and all that. But again a few swims down those deadbaits were untouched. The water temp was 8.9 degrees so still a way off spawning time, but I was amazed how little action I got, and didn't see any signs of fish either, all very odd.

Maybe they were on strike like the council bin collectors. 

Back to the canals with a bang, Mick stick at it, things will come good soon enough I'm sure.