Canal Zander – Hunches and Hobo’s

I’d fished a handful of times below the lower reaches of the Laryngeal Prominence without even a nibble, a bite, or even a tiny Perch to show for my efforts so I was in no rush to go back, especially as the weather was going to be rather wild.

But then, hang on a minute...

A photo appeared of a cracking double figure fish which was caught on this particular canal, more or less this time last year, and it’s only when I was looking at a Facebook mail trail screen grab Dave sent to me recently (I’m not on it ) where the picture was posted again, something stood out.

As someone who has trodden the towpath on much of its length you tend to recognise features and landmarks which are stored in ones subconsciousness.I’m sure I’ve been past ‘that’ even though it was pretty well hidden in the background behind some thicket was most prominent in the photo. Sure enough a quick look through the photos on the anglers Facebook page, one of his pictures revealed that he had indeed visited the stretch where I thought it was.

Even the most careful of big fish captures who try and disguise an area the best they can, sometimes slip up and a swim can be recognised. We as anglers spend many a hour on the banks don’t we so it’s just the way it is, not a fat lot you can do about it.

The thing is does revealing a specific swim or area really matter….?

I’ve been finding with this canal Zander lark that you tend to find pockets of schoolie Zander that will always be there but the specimens will be there one day and gone the next. These lunkers appear to be transient after all, nomads and hobo’s if you like.

I can tell you that I’ve fished the same swims where I’d caught my PB of 9lb and the second biggest at 8lb 10oz many a times, and up till now, I’ve not had a sniff of anything like those two fish that graced my landing net again.

However was this fish different? As it appeared that after losing it on a previous session the eventual capture returned to the same swim and managed to bank it.

Now I’m not a big fish chaser usually ,I’d leave that to those well conversed in it, but if this fish is still milling around these waters which is unusually full of prey fish I’d like to catch it as it will be a zed with a capital Z.

It will be a proper’un, a lump….if you Phil.

The large Carp appear to be very different and the more and more time I spend on canals it appears that they tend to settle in one area and stick with it. If I do eventually catch a double figure canal Zander maybe they will become my next target. There are some beasts to be had too judging by the ones I’ve seen when Zed’ing as they don’t seem to mind sharing the same swim from what I’ve discovered.

The bruiser and the cruiser, top and tailing….

Now this Zander was apparently caught on the lure which I was surprised at because in my experience a deadbait has been more selective with 5lb being my biggest lure caught fish. For this session in to dusk it was a Roach chunk out on the sleeper and a lure rod as the main attack. Recently I’ve been enjoying my lure fishing and you can see why it’s become so popular, it can get very addictive with the aggressive Zander and the sense of anticipation.

There are more shiny bits to buy which can only be a good thing, got to spend money on something and enjoy the fruits of ones labour haven't I….

Thinking about it, I did manage a schoolie by the bridge, so might was well give it a bash.

1 rod my usual overdepth float set-up, the other the lure rod. Better get going.

Now swim bound I can spot the 'feature' but hmmm, looks like it, but not quite, looking at the picture again. 90% there, could be, might be, hey maybe it's been altered since the picture was taken, who knows.

So better get on with the fishing. After about 7 or 8 chucks of the lure a small schoolie, grabbed the lure. It isn't hooked well so managed to get free, but at least there is Zander here.

Next was the deadbait rod, three fish caught over the length of the cover. The biggest three pound. Another Zander banked on the lure, a reasonable session but for the last half an hour in to dusk I was hoping for something decent.

Sadly, the float remained motionless, the weather getting worse....

Back to get the fire on....

Canal Zander – Billy Big Puds

100ml of milk, 75 grams of flour, a little water, 2 eggs, some dried sage and onion salt, season.

Whisk, leave, room temperature, ready to go….

Fan oven set to 210 degrees.

6 cup muffin tin, the much needed groundnut oil that makes the difference, preheated.

Fill mixture to rim, watch it bubble, oven bound.

Meat up top, spuds and puds below, door closed.

25 minutes, jobs a good’un, watch them rise.

Give them a go, I’ve been tinkering with ones Yorkshire puds for some time now and they are a revelation.

Aunt Bessies lazy frozen jobbies, GET OUT !!!!

You see mediocrity is not something to be relished in my opinion. I’d watched a YouTube video the other day you see with a name embroidered lure fisherman drop shotting a miniscule micro lure in a local canal where he caught over 3 and ¾ metres of tiny perch. Now the thing that struck me was not only the fact that he actually measured the length of each and every fish caught despite not being in a match but also the fact that he had a corresponding tally counter that he proudly displayed at the end of the video.

And ‘wasping’, what’s all that about….?

After skipping through the monotony there was certainly nothing to put a bend in the rod from what I could see. However I can now see why many lure clubs are changing their match rules to the 3 biggest caught rather than total length as come on, be realistic some of the Perch looked like they were just out of nappies and therefore naive after their new found freedom.

Now, I’ve no doubt bigger fish would eventually succumb to this method but it looked completely alien to me as the resulting fish were rivaling a nats nadger.

I've said before though, I ain't a match fisherman, but I can see why the technique is well practiced, micro lures catch plenty of fish.

Then I had an idea !!!! which I have from time to time believe it or not that may benefit the type of fishing I partake in.

You see my ongoing quest for a cut double I’ve been using 12cm Fox spikey shads on the whole where the results have been reasonably productive for Zander and Perch but still nothing to touch the results on chunks of roach. Maybe there was something to learn from these micro lure tip tappers after all.

What about using a lure more befitting the size of the fish I’m trying to catch….

Thinking about it, an ‘A’ cup wouldn’t turn my head, a set of ‘DD’s , no question.

So it was out with the head turners….the biggest over 6.5" inches of Kopyto

Saturday morning, 7.30am, canal towpath, fog still around the first cast of the lure,

PING !!!!

It's still frozen, whoops...

As it got lighter I could see, oh yeah, BALLS !!!!

Weird as it hadn't been freezing over night. Only a thin layer and the areas that looked fishable just didn't appeal.

So back in car, I'll try tomorrow...

Again, foggy but this time it was fine. The clarity wasn't the best, clearer than I usually like. I decided to start small and go big, to one of my most successful lures was put on. The Red Headed Fox spikey shad.

About the 4th or 5th cast, a small Perch

I upped the size to 4.5" and sure after a few plucks as Zander nailed it, not the biggest but just goes to show, they don't mess around.

The next lure I'd used down the river before. A firetiger pattern with a slightly slimmer body than the white Kopyto, which is the larger lure I thought I'd try.

Now the canal especially away from the boat track is very shallow indeed so these lure are not ideal. It helps that the hook point is on top of the lure though so less issue with catching debris.

So it's a matter of casting out, leaving the lure to bottom out and then slowly retrieve the lure. I've found Zander like to sometimes take a lure on the drop but it's difficult with these larger lures.

Anyway after half an hour I though about downsizing but after a few nibbles and plucks eventually a fish grabbed it.

This felt larger than the last fish but after seeing it's flanks it was still a small fish.

It properly nailed it though and just goes to show. Zander look like they have relatively small mouths but a bit like a Perch, they can get their jaws really well open to be able to target their prey.

This one had a belly on it but still not that big, maybe 4lb or so....

So on the last lure, the Kopyto, to be honest this looked ridiculous and I was in two minds whether or not to try it out but after fitting it with a 5g jig head it performed pretty well to be honest. The biggest issue is the disturbance on the water.

It was a little like Peter Kay in the John Smith's advert, it's a tank slapper, a depth charge. Maybe on the river that's ok, but a small canal, I'm sure the fish would keep their distance.

Luckily I was on my tod....

Now I tried for an hour and there was certainly fish interested as every now and then something took a nibble of the tail. The clarity didn't help as it was too clear for a proper good Zander session but it was good to experiment me thinks.

I'm thinking I might try this lure down the river where hopefully I can snare a Pike or a Zander.

Switching back to the spikey shad I had another 2 schoolies in quick succession. The larger fish I'm after didn't show, but come on this is Zander fishing, I'm still learning and I've caught bucket loads of them now.

A river session me thinks....maybe this time with a dead bait on a sleeper rod.

Warwickshire Avon – Zanderdatory

The remainder of the French blue cheese Bleu D’auvergne was polished off with a few glasses of Port and some chunks of pork pie. If you have tried this cheese and enjoy Stilton give it a bash, even Tesco sell it.

£2.25 for 150G….

It’s a cow’s milk based and uses a mechanical needling process where pricking the curd increases aeration and subsequently allows the mold to enter the curd to encourage its growth.

Very creamy and piquant it goes well with quince and apple confit, btw….

Sadly it’s a combination that is guaranteed to boost the body’s uric acid in the blood, so the key is bladderisation and cheese consumption, is to do it in moderation.

Nothing wrong with a Christmas blow out mind you, however I like to try for abstinence for most of January so the Gout doesn’t have a chance to get hold.

Problem was I woke with a bladder like the Ulley Dam….

Alcohol is a diuretic after all, it had been a nice and steady consumption over the day and the Port was an enjoyable nightcap. It meant that I woke nice and early though which considering the short session I could only manage, the nature’s alarm clock was of benefit.

I’ve mentioned before but mouldy cheese gives me some proper weird dreams and some memorable trips. Cheese is also high in tryptophan which is one of the amino acids that is the responsibility for melatonin production so especially when tired already I get to sleep pretty quick and as someone who’s autistic son had trouble getting to sleep for a couple of years, melatonin which he doesn’t produce made him go from bouncing off the walls at 10.00pm to someone who doesn’t have an issue getting to sleep. 

Sadly despite watching the darts for most of the night, Daniella Allfree and her assets didn’t feature but a Sasquatch living in the woods at the Stratford Lido did.

All very bizarre, what’s all that about.

Who needs lysergic acid diethylamide when you have blue cheese….

Anyway canal bound to try and catch some Zander, I thought hang on a minute, a bit of rain the night before there should be some colour in the river. So I headed to an area of the Warwickshire Avon that is largely untapped, well for me anyway. I’ve fished it a handful of times and caught some Zander. The area I’ve concentrated on is a few fishable swims where the water is pedestrian. In the winter with everything died back it looks a little baron, but then I suppose much of the river is like that at the moment. 

For sanctuary of any predators its ideal, plenty of cover and you can see why even Perch would find a home here. Upstream I’ve only fished a lure rod and had Pike aplenty, with one small Zander.The water looked a lovely colour but the sky not so, a clear sky overnight meant there was a heavy frost and that remained for this short morning session.

It’s was bluer than one of Ron Jeremy’s…. 

So not ideal for Zander fishing where they can be tricky buggers to catch.

Two float rods fished over depth, with sections of dead roach. My standard canal set-up but with one significant changed the fluro hooklink was changed to wire.

Despite landing every Zander I’ve hooked on fluro without issue, here there is chance of Pike and decent one at that, so not wanting to lose any fish that was hooked and also for conservation of the fish, there really wasn’t any choice.

The first fish came after half an hour and it was a small Chub that took a liking to the predator liquid enhanced deadbait offering . The second not long after, a greedy small Perch.

Eventually however one of the floats started to bob and then dipped and was being dragged towards the small raft. I leant in to the fish and it felt like a Zander. Having caught hundreds of them now, you get to know what they feel like.

Not the biggest of fish, and I didn’t weigh it but looked 3lb or so. As I was putting the fish back, the other float which was tight to the margin also started to move and eventually went under confidently.

This time felt smaller and it was , a scrappy schoolie which despite the size gave a decent account for itself. 

For the last hour, zilch, all very quiet but there are Zander here, that’s a certain. As I’ve found out on the cut though, bigger fish don’t show themselves that easily. I need to explore some of the other swims available. The problem is some of them are deep, very deep so maybe a roving approach is needed and a change of rig.

A running set-up on a buzzer and a lure rod to cover as much water as possible, I’m at the ready….