Transient Towpath Trudging - Pt.85 (Canal Zander)

Although I moan a lot about fishing canals, (I moan about lots of things to be honest), well I am 52 years old in November it goes with the territory I suppose. The world has changed so much in the last fourteen years since I've had this blog and certainly not for the better. 

The canals you see, since I've been fishing for zander, those numbers of fish I used to catch have certainly dropped off, no doubt some of that from having anodes stuck up their jacksies from the determination of the canal and rivers trust to get rid of them. 

But the cover too, much of that has been removed in huge quantities and yet I thought they were struggling for money ? I'm sure that money could be spent better elsewhere because ok, remove any that is hindering the boats but why remove the cover that just makes a canal look nice, rather than the baron landscapes they have become more recently. 

Cover provides a haven for these predatory fish you see and much of the time they are laying up not doing a fat lot, well until a deadbait is dropped on their heads and they decide to act on their instinct. They are also scavengers and it's difficult for them to resist any food items that comes their way especially when that food item is fish shaped. 

Canals despite the dog related landmines and the great unwashed provide an angler an option in the closed season which they will do me, not just the zander but other species too. They also offer exercise as well especially when targeting zander where a leapfrogging roving approach is needed to try and find the fish, where a 4 or 5 hour session those 10k steps are ticked off quite easily. 

Now this inaugural trip post closed season was to a local'ish area of canal that seems to be bouncing back if the reports from the like-minded are anything to go by. Not just schoolies either, because a picture shared showed a fish that some weighing scales were definitely required, and made me raise my eyebrows because of that. I knew where it was caught just by seeing the background even though the person that shared the capture has always been happy to share where he fishes and where he catches. 

That why Nic from Avon Angling was here today as well, a bit of a social really with said person being fish catching machine Buffalo Si from river masters. We've fished the same waters for a good while now and often share the towpaths because we have the same mission after all. His results are all there to see on his Youtube channel 👀 

To be honest it took a good while to get the first bite which actually came when I retrieved the float when a boat was coming as it snatched the bait when it came up off the bottom. The canals locally are very turbid indeed most of the time and pike are a rarity so I use 18lb fluorocarbon for hooklinks and thin wire trace if there are pike around.  

Anyway the fishing wasn't exactly prolific so Nic went to a new area to fish which was a ten minute walk away and I stopped in the 'hot spot' with Si talking rubbish. After I had a fish that dropped off I myself went on a rove to where Nic had been fishing.

He managed a couple of zander which was nice and decided that was enough for him and left me to it. The fish didn't seem to be moving around that much hence why trying to find the fish is the key. 

I had a fish drop off within 10 minutes of having the baits out but it didn't take long to get another bite. This one was pulling back much better than the first fish but was actually much shorter in length but full of spawn by the looks it it.

I had another run but didn't connect and by this time I'd fished around 7 hours with not that much to show for it. With a busy day ahead I also decided to make my way back to the car fishing a few spots on the way back. 

And that was my lot, not exactly prolific with Si blanking when I left him but I'm sure they will be crawling up the line when they switch on and realise just who is fishing for them. 😁

I'm sure the cold overnight temperature didn't help our cause because they just didn't seem to be moving much. Still not complaining a few fish caught and always good to catch up with the like-minded.