Friday 13 May 2016

Closed Season Zander Quest Pt.38 – The Tip Tapper

With the Shanghai Anglers Club afternoon match off due to dwindling numbers I was back at the Tefal Head for another short Zander session. The fish have been a little off the feed of late, very up and down and patchy since I started the quest for a cut double.

Over the last couple of weeks, its been definitely on a downer. With the temperatures relatively settled for a few days I was hoping that would change and they would be tempted by one of my roach heads. I’ve walked miles of towpath now and it’s becoming to feel second nature, considering the different areas I’ve fished on three different canals, other anglers have been few and far between.


Hmmmm, hang on a minute, what's this, the first angler I’ve seen on this stretch since I started fishing it.

He’s a typical tip tapper but the looks of it.

Small lures, down the edge, utter concentration.

Rod like a pencil, delirium tremens.

Tip Tap, Tip Tap, Tip Tap Toe….

Embroidered polo shirt, cap to match.

“How you doing, caught much ?

“Not here, but I’ve had a few small Perch further up”

He’s giving my rods the once over….


“Doubt you’ll catch Pike here mate, way too coloured for them”

“I’m after Zander”

“I’ve fished this stretch a few times now and had one tiny fish, that’s it” “They got rid of them ages ago”

“Really” “Ok if I fish at that cover”

“Go ahead”

“Cheers”


I move down the stretch, baits positioned and within a few minutes have my first run, I strike too early, the dead bait pops out the fishes mouth, rod back out, sure enough, on the move again. I strike, and a fish is on.

The fish surfaces and make a splash, the rods visibly bent double.

The tip tapper, now with a look of disbelief, comes over for a look.

“So there is some here then”

“Yeah, looks like it, I’m happy with that, that’s a nice fish”

Well I wasn’t, it was small but you get the picture….

Anyway, we decided to part company.



The more I think about the way my fishing for canal Zander has changed the more I miss fishing with lures or jigs. I’m a very mediocre lure fisherman to be honest with limited success, plenty of small fish but hardly anything of note, a 5lber my best over the few years I’ve been fishing for them. There is something nice about the feel of the bang through the braid, through to the carbon and the sound of the braid on the small reel against the eyes of the dainty rod that a float set-up cannot replicate.

I do miss it, I really do.

Anyway back to the fishing, there are carp here,in numbers too and over a couple of hours I must have spotted 6 or 7 different fish. Not the biggest, but each and everyone was seeking food.


Enough for me to give the Zander a miss for a while, probably not but it's been noted in my head, if I want to fish for a canal carp, this stretch is worth a try.

I must have caught ten to twelve Zander over the short session but sadly nothing of size, the biggest only went 3.5lb ,welcome all the same but not what I'm after.

I'm fast becoming schoolied out.




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