Transient Towpath Trudging - Pt.91 (Tramp Alley)

Now the Livens Large Gallery Flame Projector was a 60 foot behemoth buried undeground and hidden from view that could engulf targets 300 feet away in flames. The terrifying weapon was deployed at the Battle of the Somme, one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War.

It was invented by William Livens, an officer in the Royal Engineers determined to create something even larger than the individual flame-thrower something large enough to destroy an entire trench system. The final product was an impressive 56 feet long, 14 inches wide, 2.5 tons and needed a crew of seven men to be used.

The weapon was powered by air pressure, which would push it out of the ground once it reached a certain level. A mixture of kerosene and diesel would then be ignited and shot towards the German lines. While there are no records that state how effective it was, historians believe that it was very effective where used at the Somme.

Some even argue that the Livens Flame projector was the reason by the British managed to break through at Mametz and Carnoy on the first day of the battle, despite losing 60,000 soldiers to injury or death.

Mick, back to the fishing !!!!

Well ok, but a good reason for a history lesson because a trip up 'Tramp Alley' cannot be taken lightly. 😁

You have to have your wits about you and need to react quickly when something dangerous or difficult happens unexpected. A Livens projector stealthily positioned would be perfect especially when it could be activated remotely. 

Hey maybe I could consult Colin Furze from YouTube as shown above (subscribe if you haven't he produces some great content), I'm sure he could create a compact version ready to tackle 'Tramp Alley' issues. Rabid dogs, waifs and strays, landmine creators, narrowboat dwelling stoners, tent frequenters (3 there this morning) and those generally up to no good !!!

Luckily it was safety in numbers because Nic from Avon Angling was already planning to visit the stretch and I thought why not, I'd give it a go too. I've had some nice fish from here, even some tackle testing chub and roach bream hybrids, but also a couple of clonking roach which would be my target really. A small buoyant and visible Guru 2SSG foam pellet waggler seemed to work really well, with more luck than judgment to be honest.

The bulk of the weight is towards the hook where a decent piece of flake would be fished close to the far cover. The set-up allows positioning of the bait tight to any feature where often the fish are holding up. 

It allows roving as well which is more my thing, I'm not one to be sat on a chair waiting for a bite. Because the float is really light the 2SSG's bulked near the hook do all the work, and the set-up is a precise as Jon Arthur on one of his bad days, pretty good let's put it that way. 

Obviously I'd have a Zander rod out as well, because there is some Zander here albeit, I've not caught anything of significance on this stretch. In-fact it tends to hold some of the smallest Zedlets I catch. Still you never know, there could be a big'un lurking in its turbid depths that has been feasting on these tasty morsels ....

....best laid plans and all that, how did it go !!!

Well I got there for just gone 6.00am and I didn't realise Nic was already fishing as I didn't see his car, however when I headed up to the area I've had some nice roach from, the angler there fishing was Nic, well who else would be stupid enough to go fishing at that, on this stretch.

He'd had a few nibbles but that was it. The rain started in angler and with the cold wind it wasn't exactly pleasant. Anyway we both got fishing and it was clear the fish were not interested in anything we threw at them. Looking back at my blog it's always like this until post spawning and then the canal warms up a bit (was around 9 degrees)

In the end we both decided at the same time to head back because with the towpath now becoming busy and the road noise on the increase our time here was up. But we are anglers after all, and after a break in the rain decided to fish the last section which has some reeds in the near margin.

I've had Zander her before and sure enough about 20 minutes in with nothing doing on the bread rod for either Nic or I, eventually the deadbait had some interest and it was off on a run. Only a small schoolie but at least not a blank. And that was that, anyway with the Zander more interested than anything else I might give them a proper go in the morning again. This time where I'm likely to catch something a little bigger.