The Close Season Zander Quest Pt.118 – Maine Coon’s and Man Traps

A few years ago now fears that a big cat was on the loose near a children's playground in a sleepy rural village not far from my abode had been put to rest.

Clear footage of what looked like either a lynx or a jaguar prowling through fields in Great Alne, Warks, sparked worries that a mystery beast was at large. The beast, which appeared to be about 4ft in length, had a black tail and markings similar to a lynx. It led to a flurry of speculation as to what the creature could be.

The creature, which is thought to be larger than a fox, was reported by a resident to Alcester Police South Safer Neighbourhood Team after a resident managed to capture the beast on film . But residents can now breathe a sigh of relief, because the creature has since been identified after the video went viral as a pet Bengal cat named Hiro.

"I can assure everyone that there is no Big Cat stalking the fields of Great Alne ,at least not this time ,it is just my lovely pet cat Hiro.

With no sense of scale, Hiro did indeed look like some sort of Big Cat as he prowls, shoulders appearing to be rippling with muscle and with his long tail curled up just like a leopard. But a detailed study of the cat in the picture reveals it is like no other Big Cat likely to be roaming wild across the region’s countryside its tail markings in particular being like none other.

But but….

….not long after though not far away, a spa goer has captured footage of what she claims is a 'three foot tall' big cat skulking around a hotel golf course. Now Kate Sanderson, 51, was out strolling with a friend when she spotted the black feline shape stalking through the hotels grounds and filmed the beast as it prowled across the golf course at the Ardencote Manor Hotel in Lye Green, before returning to her room to obviously get back on the gin and tonics.

Even through squinted eyes it was obviously a domestic cat but not sure if it’s just me but I’ve always found cats rather sinister.

I’ve had my own encounter as well, one particular section of canal I fish where there are long term residential moorings for boats a big black cat with the most piercing eyes you’ve ever seen, randomly appears out the blue in different locations and sits and stares, and stares even more.

If I get my hands anywhere near my phone to try and take a photo, he is off quicker than my mate Hilly when it’s his turn to go to the bar.

Ok that doesn’t sound that sinister I know, but there is always an event or episode that happens afterwards that makes me wonder if there is something beyond my control going on.

Now talking about beyond my control, this Zander Quest of mind cannot be concluded on my terms, it will happen when I least expect it I’m sure. When you fish for Canal Zander as much as I do, even the visual bite from fishing an overdepth float cannot be narrowed down to what is likely to be underneath it. My PB came to a bite that could have been a schoolie, the bites vary considerably from really tentative nudges to full on float under bow waves.

Now an area that popped up on the radar recently I’d never really considered even fishing, a featureless area that doesn’t provide what the Zander seek. Well that’s what I thought till I was shared some information that kyboshed that theory out of the window altogether.

But if you think about it, when the water is coloured like it is here, it doesn’t really matter what structure or features it has because in this clarity the Zed will always be top dog. They might as well be invisible.

For this short after work session I wanted to try and tempt a bigger fish that could potentially be waiting in the wings away from the travelling group of fish, that if you stumble on them are determined to plunder your deadbait reserves. A good way to do that is to fish a gobstopper on one rod, and for this session I’d fish a whole smelt and the other rod a good distance apart, I’d fish a snack sized Roach.

Last time I was here I blanked but the wind was causing white tips such the size of the ripple on the surface so I didn’t stick it out long enough to be fair, opting to fish the usual swims I fish. Before I tackled the featureless though there was a swim not far away that was a tangled mass of roots that I didn’t fish last time, but looked idea for a fish to be laying up.

The sun up, the water temperature 9.9 degrees so still cold'ish I knew this would be a tough session, after starting at a bit over cover I'd got my eye on when I was here last, after half an hour without even a nibble I decided to move down to the characterless area, that I would leapfrog. I covered a good 150 yards of it as well and managed two bites, both which didn't develop from the first initial couple of pulls.

The boat and bike traffic were becoming a little annoying by this time and with only twenty minutes left to fish, before I had to head home, I decided to go and fish a section of cover I passed initially. I should have gone with my instinct really, as within minutes of fishing tight to some cover I had the first proper bite. I was premature on the strike and the fish let go of the bait but upon recasting I noticed that the right-hand float was now moving.

It looked like I'd stumbled on a group of fish, damn, if only I started there. The first didn't put up that much of a fight to be fair and it was quickly in the net. A nice dark coloured Zed mind you, so nice all the same. A couple more bites never materialized in to anything and when I got snagged on a hidden branch and lost one of my floats, it was time to head home, me wondering what could have been. A long section of cover I'd not properly fished before, and I'd only fished a tiny bit of it.

Don't worry I'll be back !!!!

The Close Season Zander Quest Pt.117 – Earth Baths and Elysian Fields

Towpath mowing carnage, the aftermath all to see, a tent spotted, abandoned, disheveled, dumped , the owner given up on the off grid living? the fishing not going so well, the 4G signal non-existent, the water brown as you like, yeah I wouldn’t bother either. You see this area isn’t for the foolhardy, it deserves some respect, hence it’s seemingly forgotten in the eyes of other. However for me, I was back to where my allegiances lie, where I belong….

….like many of the other places I fish, anglers rare, the Zander stamp high, solitude box ticked.

But that knowledge doesn’t come easy, it’s time on the bank, hours spent, and this, Pt.117 of this ridiculous quest of mine goes to show just how many hours I have been spent to try and catch what is basically a rather large Hen with rather large teeth.

However every now and then something pulls harder than the humdrum and there is a glimpse of light at the end of the rather large tunnel. Now this area is on a completely different canal network to a fish of 9lb and 8lb 10oz’s I’ve managed to bank, so it just goes to show that anywhere can be home to a big canal Zander, and up and till this time last year, it was never even on one’s radar.

3 fish over 5lb, and more recently a fish going 67cm on the tape and 7lb 8oz on the scales, it’s an area that if I continue with my efforts, I’m sure it eventually will come good, and a double will grace ones net.

I had in the back of my mind that Zander populations were in decline in some of the areas I fish because of the amount of fish I’d be catching, and then out of a blue a session goes from good to mad where countless Zeds are banked, some lost, that shows they are here to stay despite the efforts of the electrode wavers and tank filler.

Over the few years I've been fishing for canal Zed's, biomass seems to have changed in some areas though quite significantly. Those bite sized ‘bait’ fish now seemingly sharing the same space with these rather interesting fish with teeth that turned up on mass on their pillaging mission . Now that might be a bit of a curve ball in ones own quest because it could well change the areas I fish yet again, because of the buffet now laid out firmly within the boat tracks table.

Big fish need feeding after all, they have hunger pangs and an appetite to quash. Areas that were off the radar, now back on….

….I’m up for it though, it the offer of solitude that other waters don’t give like some of the canals do it probably why I’m happy for the moment whatever comes along, and if a proper lunker eventually turns up, which I’m sure it will, other species may have to become the quarry. Roach and carp spring to mind. I enjoy fishing canals because others don’t , for those likeminded peace and quiet seekers what’s not to like.

So for this short after work session just short of dusk I was back at the deep bit to try and get among the bigger fish that call this area their home.

Now having fished for Zander as much as I have done I knew straight away just looking at the water it would be tough, the colour not quite right, the temperature low with a biting wind. But you have to get a bait in the water for that hunch to be confirmed. The productive bit of cover for the bigger fish was dead, no bites within an hour or so after leapfrogging the section. It didn't help that two boats had come through at the same time and stirred up the already debris ridden surface.

The water didn't settle after that going back and fourth making fishing difficult. So after moving to an entirely different section of cover, shallower and also where there are some tree roots in the area, I decided to give this 45 minutes or so. If there is a Zander laying up then usually bites come quick and this was no exception, within a couple of minutes the left hand float was being dragged under an overhanging bush. Sadly a small fish I think as it released its grasp on the small roach deadbait.

Nothing more doing in that swim so I decided to fish above the deeper swims right in the track where the surface was clear, hoping to intercept an fish moving through. This decision was well worth it, as a bite came quite quick on smelt and a Zed was on. After the first pull I knew it was a small fish, the smallest for a while I think. Yeap a small schoolie not preoccupied in getting in to the spawning mood like its older relatives. 

I returned to the deep section for the last half an hour and whilst minding my own business a dog walker with a rather large pointer off the lead didn't like that I was there. Some rather loud menacing  barking which for someone who doesn't particularly like dogs and I'm always on the look out for dogs when out in public as my eldest son Ben who has an irrational fear of them, was quite unnerving. A few words were met with an apology and we had an interesting chat after he asked if I was after Zander as he was a fellow fisherman.

A very nice dog with a decent temperament despite the initial introduction but he lived locally and walked the towpath most days. A pair of Otters in residence (there's a suprise) and confirmed also the presence of carp, and some decent ones as well. I ended up getting back later than planned but it meant my baits were out longer than anticipated. Sadly no more bites, it's certainly tough out but I'm back out again Thursday evening to try and drop on a fish like I did today, this time I'm hoping for something much bigger.

The Close Season Zander Quest Pt.116 – Hoydons and Hodmandods

This area had been on the radar for a while, a place where potentially a big Zander could stretch their fins due to the locale. Now usually in my experience the bigger Zander tend to like the quieter areas where footfall is less the cover in abundance.

However the theory was that occasionally the older wiser fish like to let their morals down from time to time and are happy to join the kids on their weekend rave.

The big females around this time should in theory be tucked up in bed, with their bulging awaiting the onslaught of a seedy Japanese pastime, but the water temperature may delay that for a while, well maybe for a couple of weeks anyway.

  

The weather despite mild during the day for the past couple of weeks has been very cold indeed.

The fish basically don’t know what the heck is going on, so fishing can be tough in these conditions. They can be preoccupied, prepubescent or a pain in the backside.

The last session was a little like that, countless swims fished and it was on the last half an hour where I managed where I managed to drop the bait on a fish. I didn’t mention it in my last post but I did to fellow Zed Head Dan who was with me for this session. I was fishing two baits close together and out of the blue both floats more or less started to move at the same time. 

I initially thought that I’d jumped on a group of fish but after leaning in to the fish on the left hand rod as I started reeling in the right hand float comes with it.

Yeap this fish had managed to hoover up BOTH baits, now considering I fish two deads for most of my sessions, that had never happened before, Dan had not heard of it either. So they are hungry then that’s for sure. The problem is with the fish not knowing which way to turn it’s difficult to predict where they will be and what they will be doing.

So anyway back to the session, we started at an area where in theory offered a little bit of sanctuary away from the warehouse floor and the subwoofers a stone’s throw away. After leapfrogging some likely looking swims, me with two rods with smelt, Dan with one dead roach rod and a lure rod after a while eventually Dan managed a 42cm fish fishing tight to a tangled mess of roots.

Encouraging signs for sure, but nothing like the size we were after. So we up sticks and got on the rove to try other areas before maybe returning here for the last hour.

Now as Dan competes in many a lure competition and the way of the lure is the main stay of his fishing sessions one area that had highlighted in being worthy of a go, is around reeds. A fish holder if there ever was one and it’s often these areas that can offer a one up over other competitors. As we meandered up the swims were getting more characterful which for me is one my sort of area to target Zander. 

As Dan fished the inside line with a dead tight to some reeds and was putting the lure around the swim I managed to drop one of my baits right between a dark deeper swim situated smack bang in the middle of some thick cover. My suspicions were right within a couple of minutes the float started to bob and was being pulled under the overhanging bush. It was only a small fish but just goes to show how tightly tucked up there in these testing conditions.

By this time the early risers were becoming more prevalent as were the boats. The water going from still to flowing as soon as the locks were being operated. It’s always a pain in the backside when it’s like this hence why many of the areas I fish boats are less frequent the distance between locks far. So after enjoying a hot breakfast snackette and take stock, we decided to go back to where we started for one last go. 

Dan lost a small fish on the lure whilst holding it away from a moving boat and then once things died down I managed a small fish on smelt fishing the far bank on a swim that just looked good for a bite. By this time the boat traffic has increased even more and when one inexperienced boat operator was attempting a tricky manoeuvre by the use of full throttle, churned everything up to such an extent we both agreed it was time to end the session.

Will we return? Well there was nothing to show during the morning that pointed to that, it was ticked off the list though and another venue that would probably be confined to the been there done that list.