The Closed Season Zander Quest Pt.130 - Eutechnics and Expergefactors

Some trampled grass, wild flowers disturbed, and to the left a short and fat dog poop a good 50mm in diameter. Look out for it as it’s a bankside features which indicates a section of cover which is a haven to big carp, if you find it, and hook in to something it will likely be big, very big.

This area is home to big Zander as well, well it was, 20 yards down is similar looking cover I landed a Zander of 8lb 10oz’s, a proper short and fat fish that given another couple of years of growth would have been a double for sure. 

This short stretch though may well have had its heyday, certainly the Zander numbers are down and I’ve not caught anything here over 5lb for a long time. If it wasn’t for the convenience and the fact that there could well be some lunkers still around I’d have probably forgotten it by now.

It’s the carp that has also keep it on my radar, because they are seeimgly here in numbers, and some good ones as well. They keep themselves to themselves most of the time but venture out in full view in random fashion. Be there when that happens you’d be amazed such a stamp of fish call this turbid canal their home. 

I’ve yet to land one though, hooked 2 lost two, their initial powerful run and the bullying required to steer them away from the snags have led to hook pulls both times. All very frustrating as the one I hooked the weekend would have likely gone 15 to 20lbs. It was the condition of the fish that was something else, not like the last carp I caught off the cut which was a proper runt.

Anyway back to the session, proper short and sweet. An hour and a half, the first hour trying to find some Zander with two deadbait rods, and to conclude the session I’d try for a carp where I found them hiding last time. It was a warm one as well, 19 degrees and quite pleasant to be out. When I was bankside though it really did look lifeless, and that’s how it remained for the duration I was there. 

The water was coloured from all the boat traffic during the day so ok, the carp might have been put off from leaving their holding spots, but where were the Zander? This on the whole is a highly productive area.

All very worrying indeed !!!!

A text message came from Nic from Avon Angling UK who also suffered the same fate. This fish were just not up for feeding. A change in temperature, atmospheric pressure, or I’m just not very good at location fish,who knows but I’m hit a bit of a wall again, which to be fair always seems to happen with the river season just round the corner.

Bobbleless floats and a motionless bobbin = lots of thinking time and you’d have thought that those things on my mind would only be amplified, but you’d be wrong. Fishing gives me the much needed solitude I need to seek to keep one’s mind on the right track. It’s odd but I don’t think of anything but fishing, one’s mind blank to those life’s worries that we all have. Some cycle, others go to the gym, do whatever works for you I say.

The Closed Season Zander Quest Pt.129 - Fribble and Frummagemmed

A night on the town, no cars on the drive, I needed to go fishing. Luckily a bike ride away an area of Zander and Carp, a canal that has given me pleasure over the years.

The problem was ones rear tyre was a flat as my recent Zander exploits. The area of turbid water was only a mile and a half walk though so, and to be fair with a head rather fuzzy with the Wife and I's exploits the night before it would be a nice head clearer.

Now the Zander have been a little off of late so for this session I'd be targeting the carp, they were on the move around here last time so I fancied a proper bend in the rod. One rod a wafter and some pellets in a PVA bag and a float set-up to fish close in with the float sat on the surface and a hunk of bread underneath.

The walk was dispatched easy enough but it was rather muggy with the cloud staying for most of the session. There is no point chucking a bait out in a water as big as this, you need to find the fish. That is easier said than done but as someone who has spent countless hours trudging these waterways you get to know certain areas that hold them.

After a couple of hours I thought I was wasting my time but I return to an area where I'd hooked and lost one before and sure enough tucked up in some cover was a carp. Not a huge one maybe 6 or 7 pounds but eventually after watching it for a few minutes it ventured out from his strong hold.

Now these carp are not stupid, they can actively ignore your hookbait and turn their nose up at anything floating on the surface. These carp are not fished for either, in-fact I cannot remember the last time I've seen an angler here.

With a slow sinking piece of breadflake I slowly lowered it in the water where it was milling around. With a a few freebies in and around the hookbait I crouched down and watched it in the swim for a while doing its best to ignore the bread offering. A boat went by, then another, the fish no more.

However further up from here is an area of thick over and I know there are carp tucked here from previous trips to this area. You could spend an hour sat here and not even know that they are here but sometimes they go on the move especially when the sun is up and you've gobsmacked what this canal contains.

By this time with an hour to go the sun had come out and out the corner of my eye, three carp the biggest between 15 to 20lb came out from hiding. Me watching in amazement, another boat came by so I sized my opportunity. After the swim commotion I managed to get a cracking underarm cast in, with the PVA bag helping the lead from getting stuck in the silt.

Then 10 minutes later a couple of beeps and then all hell breaks loose. I didn't have time to think I need to get the fish away from the snags and under the surface branches. The problem was, this carp wasn't messing around so despite all the side strain I could give with my hand on the spool to up the drag even more, the hooked pulled. I saw the flanks and it was a lovely golden coloured common.

Damn, this is the second fish I've lost in this swim, the other lost a while ago and lost in a similar manner albeit I it was the spreader block failure on the landing net that caused the loss.

I'll be back don't worry, maybe a lead clip set-up next time, to give me as much chance as possible in landing it, if I hook in to one again. You can see why I don't fish for carp very often, because to be honest, I'm just not very good. Oh well, practice makes perfect.

The Closed Season Zander Quest Pt.128 - Queer Morts and Quest Concluders

Every cloud has a sliver lining, you see after a somewhat frustrating session, a long conversation with a fellow angler who spends his life on these turbid waterways which happened have giving him some of my deadbaits, a location of a 14lb canal Zander was shared.  It was at an area to be honest had been off my radar, you see if there are lots of boats moving around and towpaths to be trodden by gongoozlers and poo bag swingers, they all can be found here.

I've fished it for sure but only a couple of times and yes, there are Zander here, but if there are big'uns around that's got my interest back again, so I might try a couple of times post tea sessions to try and bag myself a quest concluder. Now whist moored up for the evening fishing a chunk of bread under a float the fella had been done over like a kipper after a carp hoovered up his bread and made off with it.

I was here for carp as well as I'd spotted a small group the weekend just gone in an area that I spot them from time to time. However for this session despite leaving the bread bait out for a while nothing decided that it would like it. A Zedlet fancied a smelt though and sadly that was the only fish I managed.

Anyway above the moored boat is an area of thick cover that usually produces Zander, I say usually as it isn't what it used to be for sure. I'm not sure why, but more often then not I remain biteless these days, a banker no more sadly. Carp have this as a patrol route and that's exactly what happened for this session. I was fishing tight to some cover with a smelt and I noticed a fish coming towards me in the near margin, and looking at the water disturbance a decent fish as well.

Sure enough with the polarised sunglasses on as it passed by my feat it was a golden fully scaled common of decent statue, maybe 15lb or so, possibly more.

The problem was, I was out of bread, so the boater returned the favour and gave me a small baguette to help me out of the predicament I was in.

So a hunk of bread was dropped slowly in the margins and I stepped back from the water. A few freebies, I was hoping the fish would return.

Ten minutes later he came down for a natter, and whilst we were talking a couple of beeps from the Delkims and the rod top was knocking and tapping away.

A few seconds later the tip has properly bent round on the scope and fish is on, well it was on for a few seconds, as it wasn't a carp after all it was a Zander.

Yeap a Zander around 4lb or so had wolfed down the bread and in its bid to escape managed to shake its head and throw the hook. Now I've caught Zander before on boilies of all things so maybe I'm missing a trick, I should have a departure on fishing for Zander and fish for carp as I'd probably pick up some nice Zander too.

That's as exciting as the session got as crayfish I assume had a good go on the smelt and stripped it to the bone and with the boat traffic on the increase it was time to call it a day, one tiny Zed caught, but certainly encouraging to see a carp like that on the canal and also a location of another double figure Zander in the canal network I fish. If anyone deserves a lucky break it's me, this my 128 session in to ones quest for a cut double.

Please, don't make this quest of mine the rainbows end.