Transient Towpath Trudging - Pt.68 (Bream Bay)

When I woke up in the morning with a chirping smoke alarm announcing that the 9v battery needed replacing and that dawn was upon us I looked out of the window to a lovely misty scene !!!

There isn't many people apart from me as one of those mad anglers who decided to leave out of their own choice the house as 5.20am to head down to the local canal. But with no boats moving (usually) for a few hours the canal doesn't tow at all which means that float fishing is very enjoyable indeed.

I kingfisher greeted me when I got to the towpath and as I headed up to bream bay I realised just how chilly it was. The car showed 6 degrees and my breath confirmed that.

The water temperature did too as it was only a gnats nadger over 13 degrees which was 2 degrees lower that when I measured on another area of the canal not far from here a few days ago. 

If that wasn't bad enough when I got to one of my favourite canal swims the overly keen bush hackers from the canal and rivers trust have been at it again. 

The cover that has stood here since I've fished it, which is at least 13 years since I started this blog has now been completely removed from the whole length opposite bream bay. The aftermath of the butchers just dumped along side the towpath for all to see.

It was no surprise that the close in float line had little attention until the very end of the session. The reeds always hold fish though and it wasn't a surprise when some noticeable taps on the rod tip eventually the short hook-link did his job and a fish was hooked.

It carted off to the right and I knew it was a bream before I caught eyes on it. There are some decent hybrids here and they fight like nothing else but this was wallowing around and instantly gave the game away.

It had taken a liking to the banded small yellow wafter and banoffee method pellets and made a huge disturbance once it knew it was hooked. Not a huge bream but most welcome after the previous days mediocrity.  

Another fish came on the method feeder soon after but the float rod line was dead even after a couple of tennis ball sized groundbait balls laced with tiny feed pellets. Bream show themselves quite easily when the bubbles start appearing in the swim where they are feeding.

Action was really quiet and I was all for packing up and heading home but out of nowhere bubbles started appearing around the float, and it didn't tale long for the float to cart to the right and eventually sail under and I stuck in to a fish.

For a bream quite a decent fight on the centrepin and repurposed 14ft Acolyte but there was a good reason for that because it was foul hooked in the gill plate. A tough couple of sessions, because that was my lot. 3 hours, 3 fish, and another 3 hours I cannot get back. Still I shouldn't moan a stinky landing net as a keepsake, at least the bream went back to his watery home happier than I did. 

On to the next one !!!