The Pursuit of Hidden Treasure....

.....in plain sight. Our plethora of canal waterway's in and around London gives the opportunity of endless miles of fishing, although just because there is miles and miles of water doesn't mean that there is endless supply of fish, I know all too well that there are hidden gems in what would be regarded by most as a dump, tip, s**thole and so on, you get the picture. Some sections aren't very nice and there are some unscrupulous folk that loiter around to make you feel uneasy at times, when fishing that is the last thing you want to feel. Since April I have made numerous trips to the canals to unlock some monster fish of various species and I have done so, the challenge remains to catch what is probably the pinnacle of canal fishing, with a ten pound Bream and a 30lb Carp my ultimate targets, these are unlikely targets on most fisheries let or lone a canal as wild as you could imagine, not stocked, not looked after (fish wise) and seldom fished.

 I have seen both of my targets already and come next season I will resume my canal fishing, I can't wait to tell the truth but this season isn't over yet and I resumed my hunt this morning, with the weather looking rather bleak I still fancied a gander with the stalking gear, the wind was a slightly strong to start with but I know with the mild weather and recent rains the Bream and Carp should be feeding well, arriving just after dawn I set about finding fish and then get a bait in their faces and hope they would oblige, it took well over an hour to find a shoal of fish but once I had I stuck to them like s*** sticks to a blanket, I finally got my chance when one peeled off the shoal and made a bee-line for me, the bread went straight in front of it and the bait disappeared, no waiting for any indication as I struck immediately and hooked up with another ancient elusive canal Bream, a brief scrap on 6lb line and she was mine, such a dark fish as the water is gin-clear and they have practically no cover.

A little wet and wild but who cares!.

 After a couple of photograph's and a quick weigh, this beaut went 7.04 and my third 7lb plus slab off of this canal in particular, although this is a big Bream for a canal I seem to be avoiding the larger fish, either they don't feed or are just very bloody smart. As soon as I hooked that fish I saw the remaining shoal disappear in an instant, I knew it was time to move. Further on up I searched through water and continued on doing this for around 4 miles but it was just empty, this is what is going to make this challenge of mine so difficult as the fish do move a lot!. Pinning them down is not going to be easy, with info on these canals extremely limited due to the lack of footfall angler wise, but this is a good thing too as the fact that not many fish it makes my target easier if that makes sense, less people fishing for them makes the stocks less pressured.

 I continued on for a little longer before backtracking to see if I missed anything on my way up and half way down I bumped into a monster Mirror Carp of anything between 28-32lb, a big stocky Carp which had a lovely scale pattern too as in the clear water I could see all of it. I tried everything to catch her but it was on a mission somewhere and not in a mood to feed, hopefully I'll find her again in a grubbing up mood. Until then I will lament on what could happen on the next trip. Tight Lines.

The only Pike around here these days.