Transient Towpath Trudging - Pt.55

Your phone, along with almost everyone else’s in the UK, is going to send you an emergency alert at 3pm on Sunday, April 23. Yep, a nationwide test of the UK’s emergency alert service is going to pop up on all 4G and 5G phones accompanied with a sound and vibration which will go off automatically for 10 seconds.

But, don’t worry, it’s only a practice run not Armageddon just yet thankfully !!!

The alert will remind you that you do not need to take any action when receiving this message. You just need to tap “OK” or swipe it away like a regular notification, much like when you get a low battery notification, for instance.

It’s meant to be used in “life-threatening emergencies”, according to the government. That includes extreme weather like the wildfires during last summer’s heatwave, or the subsequent flooding incidents or hopefully when the local Tesco is low on Champion Beer. 

 

The government wants the general public to be able to recognise a real alert, because this will instruct people on what to do in an emergency, we've not needed one up and till now, so what has changed ?

Anyway with my settings sorted on my iPhone I fancied a quick trip to the canal to try and winkle out a Zander. Locally of cause and to be honest it is about the only place where I've had a bite recently.

Zander can be tricky buggers at the best of times but when they are sulking they are often off feeding for a good period of time.

Drop a bait on their head 9 times of 10 they will take it, but when they are in that mood they are so hard to persuade that you are basically wasting your time.

Fishing at bite time though can sometimes be the key where at dusk and when the light goes they often switch on for a brief sortie where often that motionless float can jump in to life. 

The one I lost here not long back felt half decent too and the boil in the surface it created was culpable of a proper fish not a schoolie. 

They can be hard to hook properly and even now with a rig perfected over hundreds of sessions and hundreds and hundreds of canal Zander I still lose fish from time to time.  

My deadbait reserves are running very low indeed so an order went in to online baits to top up the diminishing stocks because with an extended Easter break next week I'm hopefully going to try a few sessions in.

I could have fished a longer session but I arrived a couple of hours before dusk at the stretch of convenience as I was hoping the towpath would be a bit quieter. 

Last time here things picked up at dusk when an eel, I think took the bait at speed and let go of the bait and also a small schoolie droppped off. It didn't help that after raining most of the day the sun was properly out with blue skies and I doubt much would happen until later on in the evening. 

So 4 swims on without a touch on the floats the Zander we having none of it. It didn't help that once a boat had gone through the tow was constant and debris caught on the line moved them out of position.

The bag though has some nice holders both sides and these can be used to keep the rods high and off the water. To cut a long story short I left the baits out far longer than expected and there was nothing doing whatsoever

Even up to and past dusk those floats never moved an inch. The water still chilly and the fish getting ready for spawning time they are certainly having an off day.

I'm sure things will pick up when the weather improves and the water temperature starts to climb but for now I might give them a miss for a while until later on in the closed season, we will see, the canals are not exactly prolific at the moment.