The Close Season Zander Quest Pt.211 - Knackercrackers and Knick-Knackatories

A busy working week thankfully over and with the weather picking up I need to make hay and make these next number of sessions count before the drawbridge is raised on midnight the 15th of June. To be honest I'm a little canal'd out and fishing flowing waters again cannot come soon enough. 

Canals are fine for the closed season but for me fishing is all about rivers from the smallest of streams to wildest of weirs, rivers define me as an angler I'd say. They are just more my thing especially when the species to be found are so varied as are the locations and settings. 

 

Canals are little monotonous, there I said it, variety in my fishing has always been up there as the must haves and canals, well visually they can be plain Jane, sorry to Jane if you're reading this. 

Now in the 1970s a group of impoverished, fishing-mad students with roots in the West Yorkshire town of Ilkley dreamt of exploring waters beyond their home patch. 

Travelling in tired, rusty cars or hired vans and sleeping in flimsy, leaking tents, they set out to catch the legendary pike of Loch Lomond and the much-maligned zander, an alien predator that was rampant in the fenlands of Eastern England. 

The friendships and the fishing trips have endured for more than 40 years, although the rusty cars and leaking tents are long gone, the latter replaced by classy self-catering lodges and guest houses.

The range of venues had expanded to include rivers such as the Trent, the Warwickshire Avon, the Upper Great Ouse, the Severn and the Kennet, while sea fishing trips in pursuit of giant skate and sharks have also become highlights. Fishing is the glue that binds the group together, but alcohol-fuelled evenings in pubs and restaurants have added to the enjoyment. 

This is the story of the events, the humour and the camaraderie, as told by those involved.  When the modern angling press is all about flogging you the latest must have piece of tackle or bait I love books like this, especially when the Warwickshire Avon section is all about Zander. 

Give it a go, I'm not quite finished it yet but recommend for something a little different. 

As we know fishing if you want it to be can be a very sociable activity indeed and a great way of making friends and cementing and maintaining life-long friendships. The book is effectively an account of 57 core trips and then 50 trips to Loch Lomond, plus  a few trout trips to Grafham and plenty of sea fishing trips. 

Anyway enough of that back to ones own fishing, now The Hallowed, Mick's Bush, The Tefal Head, the 'Deep Bit', the Laryngeal Prominence, the Jörmungandr, etc etc, we all have swims and areas only we name and only we know about and this early morning session I was back to fishing one of them.

By chance when fishing the Warwickshire Avon for predators I'd got in to a conversation with the likeminded who like 'had' spent many a hour fishing for Zander on the local canals.

He'd moved on to chasing carp if I recall but he put me on to an area that I'd not fished before, in-fact not just the area, but he gave me detail on an exact bush to fish that ALWAYS has Zeds in situ !!!!

He was right as well I've fished it plenty of times now and it's rare I don't get a bite or two. In-fact one memorable session I caught 10 fish from here over two sessions and 8 of those fish were over 4lb....!!!! 

It was only when I got speaking to a fellow Zed head and shared the location this swim was already know to him despite not fishing it.....

It became known as Steve's Bush, an insignificant piece of thicket that I'd usually walk past as visually it looks nothing whatsoever, but wow it does hold fish and some good'uns too. 

The best I could muster up was this bulging 6 lber but I'm sure they got fed up of me upsetting their lair and sessions were becoming less productive and those 3 or 4 dish per session turned in to a bite if you were luckily. 

The fish size as well were becoming smaller and the Zed schoolies seemed to move in and were not getting bullied by the bigger fish. 

You had to fish properly tight to the cover as well as if you didn't you were starring at a blank. Even fishing dusk session they tended to stay safe in their tangle of branches and rarely came out to feed in open water.

I'd not fished it for ages though so for this 2 hour session I'd stick a couple of bait out tight to Steve's bush and see what I could muster up. You only have to look at my blog to see I've not caught a decent fish for a while, well none that would closed to concluding this Zander quest of mine. They have been left alone for a good while....

....so a bite required, Steve's Bush forthwith !!!!

What the heck have I been doing wrong recently because 2 hours in fishing 2 deadbaits tight to Steve's bush there was nothing doing at all. Now I don't usually spend anywhere near that about of time fishing one swim so I was surprised I could keep ones sanity but then completely out of nowhere a bite, a BITE !!!!

A couple of bobbles and then the float has gone completely under and its skimming the cover and going from left to right. As soon as I tightened up to the fish it felt half decent, it was taking line initially but when I managed to turn it the rod was bending nicely and I was following it down the towpath. 

Just as I was thinking about reaching for the landing net all of a sudden the tight line goes slack and the fish is off.

OH, FFS !!!!

So a decent fish lost and left me wondering what exactly was on the end. It could have well been a Pike that had broadsided the bait and ejected it, if it was a Zander, it was a good'un. I'd never know though will I. I stayed in the swim for another half and hour without anymore bites and then fished a section of cover, again without even a nibble.

I need to pray to the fishing Gods I think, all going a little wrong at the minute isn't it !!!!

The Close Season Zander Quest Pt.210 - Winding Holes and Windlestraws

I remember in my youth walking leaving the Colosseum nightclub in Coventry, walking through Hillfield's and being propositioned by a couple of ladies of the night who were watching fireman putting out a fire in one of the flats. Onwards I went to my friends at the pub riddled Craven Street, only to stumble upon another fire engine putting out a fire in a small caravan that was opposite his house.

There is no smoke without fire and the Winding Hole I've been fishing recently (No not Wenching Holes), I'm sure has some surprises to be had exactly like the aforementioned. Now Winding holes were originally important to enable efficient commercial carrying along the canal network. They were built at or near wharves or the middle of long stretches of canal between lock to lock where working boats would need to turn.

They were sized appropriate to the largest boat that could reach the site. Since those days the requirements for turning have changed as leisure boating has taken over from carrying. 

Many winding holes have become unusable or usable only by shorter boats owing to silting, vegetation growth, permanently moored boats or access restrictions by landowners.

A winding hole consists of a "notch" in the canal bank. A turning boat inserts its bow into the notch and swings the stern round. In the days of horse-drawn boats, this was accomplished using bargepoles.

To turn, drive the boat slowly into the notch so that the boat comes to rest gently with the front touching the bank.

Keeping the tiller in the same position ie. pointing towards the bank, gently engage forward gear. The boat will then pivot against the bank, all the while touching.

Now once the boat’s length is close to the bank, you can engage reverse. Take the boat back a long way out of the Winding Hole and when you are clear, you can then drive on forwards and away. 

Or do what one boat did to me the other day when I was fishing one and make a complete pigs ear of it, a three point turn turned in to one of record breaking tally proportions.

 

The bottom stirred up like it had never been stirred up before, but ironically I think it helped the fishing because after being biteless for ages the fish started to move. 

Not long after you see I'd missed a bite on the deadbait rod when I pulled the bait from a Zeds mouth, and then when it was proper dark something sizeable indeed launched itself of the water and landed like Peter Kay's diving attempt for the John Smiths 'beer' (I use the term loosely) advert. 

Only a big fish culpable for sure, a carp or a zander ?

The Hallowed Swim Part 2 where a another canal double resides? a novel in the making ?

Well with the Zander fishing not going particularly well I was back in the swim for this dusk in to dark session to try and catch whatever it was. Fish we know have habits was turning bay a hangout post sundown ? 

So yes it would be rude not to fish for a carp, so on the sleeper rod a bolt rig with a boilie and a wafter as bait and I'd fish it over a veritable Smörgåsbord of tasty offerings after raiding the bait fridge. 

I found it was deeper than the main close in here, the boat track deeper than it usually is, so the deadbait and also the carp rig would be placed closer in as the main bay itself is very shallow indeed. 

I had to adjust my float stop here last time I fished it so that was encouraging as it meant a sizeable fish could well feel comfortable here especially as as there was enough room to stretch its fins if need be.

Wow a lot of rambling going on here isn't there !!!!

So I better get back on track hadn't I....

...before I settled in to the winding hole I'd fish a section of cover that usually produces a bite or two. Its only a couple of hundred of yards away and considering I'd already walked nearly 10 times that not an issue at all. 

I'd scale down a little for this session and would use small sections of roach rather than whole small fish.  Now when I got to the towpath the colour of the water was proper chocolate brown, not your Granny's Tea but I'm talking 80% cocoa solids. 

The boat movement back to annoying levels I'd imagine during the day, still I was here late though and actually whilst I fished in to the evening and beyond there wasn't any boats whatsoever.

Now 4 or 5 swims down without even a nibble I was wondering what the heck was going on. You see I had bite after bite here the other day where in a couple or three hours I had caught 10 Zander and missed a few bites too.

Any yet even the banker swim didn't produce a bite, the fish movement too seemed down on what it normally is. A few fished topped and a small fish launched itself out of the water assume escaping from a predator but after retracing my steps and fishing another section of cover again, I was biteless and scratching ones head.

So only one thing for it settle in to the winding hole swim enjoy the mild weather and enjoy a packet of chilli scratching and counteract it with a rather hoppy ale from a local brewery Purity.

A pva bag of mixed pellets went out close in where I'd heard the large fish surface before and the section of roach went out illuminated by a focussing torch. The bat activity is quite incredible here when the sun goes down because its full of insects especially when the weather is mild and for some I bet it would be quite unnerving. 

Better get used to the animals watching then, because well there were plenty of those throughout this session. But wow I have never fished a session like this before, 4 or 5 hours and it was absolutely dead as a doornail so to speak.

A stretch that has been good to me in the past, even recently failing to deliver, not even an enquiry on the deadbait or a slimy bream, biteless, BITELESS !!!! The session didn't end well either because 5 mins in to the 10/12 minute walk back to the car my headtorch gave up the ghost, great !!! still the moon was full and my eyes adjusted to the gloom not exactly a massive issue. 

I know other do well fishing when the moon is full, but for me it couldn't be more different, a blank, a BLANK !!!! 👎

The Close Season Zander Quest Pt.209 - Four-flushers and Forisfamiliate

What a horrible couple of weeks of rubbish weather we are having, as deceiving as BBC's Martin Bashir to gain and interview, these weather Gods really have given us some hope, and then more than once now pulled the jumper over our heads and given us a few kidney punches for good measure, they've taken us on a ride of late and I'm not happy.

You just cannot plan anything can you really, I don't mind a little rain when fishing but the showers have been heavy and those >20 mph winds are a no no for me. I just don't enjoy when it's like that, and would rather wait for better conditions. 

If only there was something to lighten the mood !!!!!

I heard this week, the hunt is on for the owner of a winning lottery ticket bought in the Three Rivers District of Hertfordshire and worth £10,000 per month for 30 years, that would do me at the minute, work as relentless as ever, over 30 years in to my working wife, its not getting any easier. 

The ticket scooped the top prize in the Set For Life draw on May 6, matching the five main numbers of 2, 7, 25, 40 and 46 and the Life Ball of 4. Apparently the lucky ticket-holder has until November 2 this year to claim their prize, which is a day before my birthday.

 

Now I did the lottery for years when the Wife and I when during a drunken evening pre-kids we picked out our lottery numbers from a chuck of a ball on a roulette wheel and those numbers we did week after week, year after year.

When the probability for winning changed dramatically when some time ago they added another 10 numbers on top of the 40, we decided to jack it in completely and spend it on someone more worthwhile. 

The odd small win here and there no recompense for the outlay over those years.  Now talking of lottery numbers, Nic's came up big time when the 10lb 12lb Zander caught at the hallowed stretch came out of the blue just like a lottery win can do. 

I had planned to fish in to dark with Nic but with the temperature on the plummet from 10,00pm and something family related came up out of the blue for Nic I decided to hold off and chill with some wine and a zombie movie (Army of the Dead on Netflix average at best) in the evening and do what I do best and rove 12 hours later instead.

So for this morning session with the recent success on a stretch much closer at the back of my mind, was I wasting my time here ? and ones time better spent in waters I'd could walk to ? session no 5 or 6 now at the hallowed, will my numbers come up ? 

....lots of questions that need answering isn't there !!!!

....now I'd had some new deadbaits turn up AGAIN at the start of the week so it would be out with the smelt gold's on one of the rods, a head turner if there every was one and the other rod a small humble roach. The plan was to fish some new swims as well as the hallowed to see if I could out a nice fish on the bank.

There are decent Pike here too, so the fluorocarbon was swapped for a relatively kink free 7 strand wire trace, anyway enough of the planning better get fishing !!!!

Well after losing a 4 or 5lb Zander first chuck tight to some boats when the point of the circle hook was masked by the roaches eye I should have realised then this was going to be one of those sessions. I just couldn't settle in any swims and walked almost 6 miles going back and forth likely fish holding areas.

I gave the hallowed swim more of a go but even the Pike weren't interested, an hour or so with the baits left out not even a nudge or a bobble, well apart from a crayfish murmur I think. Lock pounds always contains fish so I walked to the end of the stretch and the first chuck of the baits something hit one of the baits on the way down. 

Sure enough I left the bait settle and the float jumps in to life. At least it was some interest I suppose but only a tiny Zed with eyes bigger than it's belly. It didn't take long for another bite but again only a small Zed out on the hunt. 

The boat movement by this time had increased so much so the locks were not fishable really. So I retraced my steps and this time going right to the top of the stretch I'm prepared to fish.

Who says fishing is for the lazy, for me it's a big part of my exercise !!!! 

Now usually when the canal is light green like it is here usually when the boats stir up the bottom you can almost guarantee a bite in swims with cover, the Zander come out from where they are hiding for a mooch about to see what fish have been disorientated but not for this session, it was very quiet indeed.

On the rove I got speaking to an elderly gentleman who was fishing the pole and he'd only been fishing an hour and he'd caught some nice hybrids, a couple of decent roach and also a big rudd, he'd be bagging up no doubt, his bright blue whip adding some colour to the dull day. 

There is such a high quality of fishing to be had here with all the species you can only wish to catch on the canal so maybe Nic's approach is the best way to go. Fish for anything that comes along with a sleeper rod for a predator, seems a shame that with my approach I'm missing out on what is a stretch full of fish, and I'm only fishing for one species well two I suppose as there is pike here too.  

With another schoolie coming to a roach bait another one dropped off too, this wasn't going well at all. The next time I will definitely fish in to dusk and in to dark because I couldn't quite put my finger on it but I just wasn't enjoying it really especially when I seem to fair better closer to home. 

Maybe my efforts haven't been that rewarding here, well on the Zander front anyway, the pike, yeah ok a PB of 13lb 8oz cannot be sniffed at, but this is a Zander quest after all. 

The huge body of water some of which you cannot fish is the stark reality of fishing this sort of stretch of canal, a needle in a haystack for sure, but a big fish will slip up eventually I'm sure of it. The fridge here is packed full to the rafters of scooby snacks, it only takes one fish to let her guard down and that prize will be mine.

Pt.209 can do one, on to Pt.210 next, with the weather improving midweek let's hope I fair a little better.