Seeing as the river's are now closed and the lakes still icy cold I really wanted to wet a line but my options were severely lacking so I decided to try somewhere that I have been meaning to go for a few years now, this decision was partly down to the successes of the lads on the Cut up in Coventry. Jeff and Danny have had scores of predators recently off of their canals so the Grand Union in Middlesex was my port of call.
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| The only Perch in the canal. |
Canals have rarely been a hit with me as most are featureless apart from the occasional lock and other places easily pull me away, today though I just packed my 8ft Rovex "Lure Pro" rod and a selection of lures and jigs, Richy joined me for a small walk which turned into a 9-mile march along some great looking water but my lures remained totally untouched throughout and many area's looked like they would be holding fish, blanking on a canal seems to be a curse that I find very hard to break, even where fish are present in good numbers I struggle.
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| A really cool place to fish, what looked like an abandoned boat building yard. |
I will return at some point as I do want to get rid of the proverbial monkey off my back, we did though see a Snake swimming on the surface and Kingfisher's hunting successfully, the canal may just be holding out on me for that special fish.
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| Standing above & below one of our greatest's Architect's work, Brunel. |
They can be like that James, some places devoid and others, as they say these days, rammed. In my experience the clearer cuts are those more likely to have those extremes of populations whereas the coloured silty ones tend to have more widespread numbers
ReplyDeleteKeep persevering and you'll find 'em. If they still run matches down there the results will give you some clues as the where the bigger fish are
Can't think why you might be practising on canals though ;)
Hmmm......two reasons for that I guess, firstly, I don't fish them enough and they are tough down here yes but there are sections where fish are present and large specimens too, a 31lb Pike came out of one section I know of and the fish looks every bit of what it's said to be, not to mention your normal species like Bream and Carp, but Roach are starting to show up after years of absence so that is extremely good news and me being as fond of them as I am they will be targeted. Secondly I would like to see if my canals are as good as yours and lift the lid on something hopefully unbelievable, vast swathes are unfished as many deem them as "dead waters", I hope to prove this wrong but I suspect many blank sessions will also be encountered as I locate the fish. It shall be an intriguing time in my angling career, let's hope I catch some fish!
DeleteI reckon George thinks you're gearing up for the blogger's challenge :)
DeleteI think your right Russell and George is right too, I want to learn more about my canals and what is in them, I know there will be no specimen's but maybe some good weight building, who knows what will happen.
DeleteI predict a good season on the canal's mate.
ReplyDeleteLot's of quality fish for you.
Bream, I know you like them... Maybe a carp and if your lucky a POXY Chub just for you!
Cheers mate, Bream, Perch and Carp are certainly on the agenda, really hoping to find some fish, but with canals, who knows! 0315am you nutcase.......
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