Life is getting in the way of fishing at the minute, but to be honest that is probably not a bad thing because the canals are becoming a little tiresome now.
I'd have usually headed out for a few sessions over the weekend but with the midlands air show wiping out Friday and then a BBQ round some friends Saturday for the most of the day, that out the kybosh on proceedings.
The problem with the weather being so nice the canal towpaths are a lot busier so unless you go early or late, those sessions of solitude are not going to happen.
The local canals are turbid most of the time but when the boats start moving it is almost unfishable until the water stops bouncing between locks and the whirlpool of silt starts to calm down.
The canals are nice places to be at the time of year when everything is in its spring bloom and when in just a t-shirt roving around to try and stumble on fish is the order of the day.
I am still yet to see another angler on this stretch for weeks apart from the likeminded and yet there are some nice fish to be caught.
1lb 12oz roach, a 4lb hybrid, a 5lb bream and a 11lb carp thus far which far more than what anglers would expect in waters like this.
On Sunday I had a small window of opportunity so I thought 'carp corner' might be worth a punt. Despite the likelihood of boats the spindly reeds on the far bank provides a nice haven for the carp to get away from the boats propeller.
There was one carp there on the RHS of the reeds however unlike the last time I managed to winkle one out getting a better vantage point on the other side of the canal just wouldn't work.
There was a huge amount of brambles and thicket to get through making the access to drop the bait on the carps head impossible really, so that left me with no choice but to cast from much further away.
The first cast was almost perfect with the bait literally a few inches if that away from it's mouth. But in typical canal carp fashion after the fish being there for ages ignoring the bait, it did an about turn and headed right to the back of the spindly reeds never to be seen again.
The sun was bright and illuminating the canal nicely so I went for wander to try and find some more fish but there was just nothing showing at all
In the end with boats almost queuing up to get through a series of locks I decided to call it a day and get back to enjoying the weather.
A weekend of overdoing it on the food front with a nice bottle of port shared with a mate of mine Steve where we managed to get through a mountain of cheese too. I don't have it very often these days but when I do it is thoroughly enjoyed I must admit. For those blog readers interested, yes Zander removal is still going on !!
As I've said to Mark the zander man, the culls are carried out as a farming exercise. The more you take out, the more the little Zs thrive and you can do the whole thing again next year at MLM's exorbitant prices. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteOh, and they take many of the other fish that you, I and other anglers fish for which end up in private waters.
And you thought canals were a national resource for the plebs to enjoy. No chance.
It's absolutely criminal. Really.
Nail on the head, no more to add really !! I've been told about some carp being removed from a marina recently which led to many other species going belly up and not surviving. I'm looking in to that more, a friend knows someone who had a boat moored up there at the moment.
DeleteJust leave the poor buggers be. C&RT grind my gears.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they love doing it, like the hacking down of countless amounts of cover that benefits no one that use the canals.
DeleteThis is something we don't want to hear as anglers, well done for requesting this. What is their reasoning behind the electrofishing? That they are a non-native species??
ReplyDeleteI fish a section of the grand union which I have bumped into you Mick once, I haven't had a Zander there now for a year or so. I know they can move around but it's really like they have been culled.
Well the section that was electro fished recently is ran my PERLS angling club and they are retired match fishing group in the main. I know of another stretch of there was done not long back so no doubt in consultation with the CRT. They are a no-native species but I have been told by the EA they are established and naturalised in so many areas now.
DeleteBut the CRT are still determined to carry on with their papering over the cracks. You see from Dr Philip Smiths research and when I've been in communication with him, removing the bigger fish many of the smaller fish are left behind due to how ineffective electrofishing for them is and they will come back in good numbers again anyway. Zander once removed are often sold to market though so quids in for the CRT because a year later they will do the same again. Would you want to eat a Zander from a canal ?
Hi Mick hope you're well. I'm still enjoying your blog 👍
ReplyDeleteThe CRT are basically poachers in my opinion. They've cleaned out most, if not all of the canal carp I "used" to fish for.... They've stumbled on a commodity they can make a few quid from. Money mate! The root of all evil.
On the money there !!! sad state of affairs isn't it :(
Delete