Canal Slabs, Another Cut PB.

 The "Blogger's Challenge" that started back in May has really given me the impetus to try other water's for I feel I have benefited handsomely through doing this, the chances are there to be taken but I hadn't really targeted them thoroughly enough to assume nothing existed, normally I love to fish miles from the nearest human, but here on what couldn't be called anything other than a sprawling urban landscape there are some lovely fish to be tracked down, I've already caught monster Carp and good size Bream for a canal but there is something else in there worth having if I could only find it.

 The application is right and the Zander will surely become unstuck at some point in the near future but the Bream have been at the forefront of my mind for quite sometime and the possibility of a double figure canal Bream has my angling mind working overtime, but can they be located??, the question has been asked before and certainly answered it with a resounding yes!, can I find more was the new question. So on a sunny and very pleasant Sunday afternoon I was joined by hoards of joggers, narrow boats, passer by's and annoying dog walkers for a stalking session for a leviathan Slab.

 I think I now know the best section for stalking and all falls within just 1.5miles of what is an enormous canal which makes the location part simpler, all I needed was the sun to stay high and find the black, ancient bodied Bream basking sub-surface whilst simultaneously scooting around for an opportunist bit of food, I hoped I'd find one in a feeding mood and get my piece of camouflaged duck food in ones path, the theory was great and after finding some Bream around halfway up I had executed the plan to absolute perfection, the crow quill float and 4lb line (invisible in water) was perfect for the job and a large Bream played the roll of a semi-conscious plastic bag out in the track, a crowd assembled itself in almost a heartbeat to witness a fish being played in what 99.9% of the population would class as dead water, I just hope that figure doesn't increase although I firmly believe the studying I have done to be successful on here won't be emulated by many, this stance isn't a one of ignorance or arrogance but the sheer fact that people just want easy fishing and on such a sparsely populated water time and patience would be needed by the spade full.

 As the old relic breached the surface on route to my net I enlisted the help of a photographer, who didn't do a bad job (can't be chossie) to take a couple of snaps of what's turned out to be a new PB canal Bream of 7lb 11oz which I was very chuffed with!. Bream aren't everyone's cup of tea but as an all rounder I seriously enjoy the way I've had to angle what I have caught so far from what isn't the best canal in the country but it's my canal and I love it.

A great fish for a canal.

 After releasing the fine specimen back to annonimity I continued with the hope of catching another, remaining mobile I followed and followed until they became very weary of me, with the game almost up as I was looking to call it an afternoon a rogue Bream came from some bankside vegetation and made a bee-line for my bread and nailed it for which I inexplicably missed - thus spooking the portly sized Bream away, I then called it a day with another canal best in the bag. Happy angler for sure, back for those Zeds too.

Return to the Royalty.

 This last couple of weeks has been pretty tough going, I guess the reason for this is the constantly changing weather, although it has been up and down a few sessions have been made, so a quick catch up before the Royalty part.

The Zed float which indicated plenty of bites but nothing on the bank.

 A quick Zander session on a local canal was arranged with Brian in the vein hope of locating one, we have very little knowledge of these elusive creatures, so the trip was probably my 5th ever trip for this species, so I can't be expected to have caught loads or expect to catch but I will try starting with the trip last Tuesday. We arrived after both finishing work and arrived at the same which was good timing so we cracked straight on, a lure was whacked out whilst we both fished static and a schooley followed the lure to the surface but failed to commit, it didn't really happen after that so we moved down the canal to a creek where I know silvers do get caught. We dropped in and as soon as Brian's piece of roach hit the deck the float was on its bike but unfortunately was unable to make contact, that was the pattern that set in as I had various runs on the float but only managed to contact one albeit momentarily, we finally managed to drag ourselves away an hour later than planned as we had been gripped by the activity with the hope of landing one, next Tuesday weather permitting the journey will continue.

 Next up is the Royalty and I was joined by a old work colleague of mine, Warren and Brian who also ventured down to the fantastic fishery that is the Royalty fishery, it's never easy but I felt that we were in with a chance and a couple of weeks ago I came down I lost a big Barbel below the Pipes in a large weed bed, I wanted retribution and it still holds very fond memories for me, a place where more can be made too. The weather was due to be really sunny and warm, not particularly good for barbel but gave it a go, the day was hard.

Rolling, on the search for a Barbel or Chub.

 We worked the top end before making the leg aching trudge through the bog at the bottom end of the fishery to hopefully find one of the fisheries bigger specimens but through all the hard work we were rewarded with wet feet and boots, so after the failed attempt further down we returned to the upper reaches and went over the same glides as in the morning but this again didn't pay dividends so our last hope of saving a blank was continue the hard work as dusk settled, fourth roll through Fiddlers and the rod lurched over as a good fish nailed the meat, 15-20 seconds later and whatever I'd hooked tucked itself in one of the many weed runs, flashback of that big barbel a couple of weeks ago played on my mind and it didn't take long to realize that I had suffered the same fate, full of hope they were now feeding I baited back up and cast slightly downstream just ahead of a large clear patch.....the rod nearly got wrenched out of my hand on the first roll, a good fish darted upstream but it didn't take long to work out it was a Chub and not a big one but it turned out to be a blank saver too as me and Brian finished up in the House Pool on ledgered Cheese and meat but neither worked its magic. So a tough day for one Chub, but better than a blank for sure and with some water in it I'm sure I can catch some more of those Avon torpedoes.

My saviour, a warrior of a Chub.

Big Mullet ploughing the bottom, even these couldn't be caught.

Here, There and Everywhere.

 As this post's title suggest's I have been about like a two-bit brass, but there was a challenge set for each of these foray's with the ultimate outcome not always what I had planned. The little excursion's started off with a trip to a relatively local fishery in search of Tench and Orfe, having a fair bit of knowledge about the venue I offered my Dad a day out, one thing we didn't factor in was the typical English weather and the heavens opened on numerous occasions with which it dumped shed loads of cold rain and killed off the fishing every time they got going again, a wasted journey.

Trotting for Stour Chub.

 Next up was a trip to the Stour for a blast at their seemingly endless conveyor belt of big Chub, at times it seems like it does 6lb plus every week and although size isn't everything I have always wanted to fish the Throop fishery so whilst being on holiday I decided to give it a try, condition's were okay I suppose for early September, set in fairly picturesque scenery I attempted to catch Chub using two different techniques ( Rolling & Trotting ), both of these tactics are by far my favourite. The amount of trotting opportunity was drastically reduced due to the amount of weed and the fishing was pretty tough, I spotted various Chub to roughly 5lb in a couple of swims and also a few big Roach around the 2lb mark with one certainly an easy 2lber, big fish for sure but they weren't in a casting position, another time they will be targeted, I only managed to hook up with one Chub but lost it almost immediately as it rolled on the surface.

Looks great and the scene of the lost Chevin.

 At roughly 5pm I decided that it wasn't really happening so I decided to head over to the Royalty and do some rolling for the last couple of hours and after having a quick chat to a couple of anglers I got on with the fishing and as dusk gave way to night I had a vicious take and was locked into battle with a really weighty feeling Barbel just at the top of Greenbank's, I was in contact with the fish for over 5 minutes and as I thought I was overcoming it the line and fish went solid, I immediately knew what had happened and walked downstream to try and tease the fish out of the weed bed that she had ploughed through but unfortunately the damage had already been done as the hook had been transferred and the fish absconded, rather annoying and I was to leave Dorset without a fish to show for my efforts.

 Back to my local bits and Roach were on the agenda, after my 2lb plus beauty last week I really wanted to catch some more big fish and plenty of bait was ready-all I needed was the fish to feed, 9 hours later and no Roach showed up at all, plenty of silvers including a plump 11oz Dace and 2 river Carp, both around the 2lb mark made surprised appearances, a bag of nearly 20lb was managed in the end which was primarily Dace of an average weight of 6-7oz.

Just some of my Roach defying bag.

Monster Minnow's

 Today was my last day off and a trip to the River Itchen was planned but the weather put the mockers on that, so again I decided to stay fairly close to home, as the rivers at the moment are not really in perfect Roach condition's I sought after some big Dace on the upper reaches. I took my brother Rikki out for the day and we had a cracking day catching loads of Dace ( the largest I caught was 9oz 6dr ), stacks of Roach to around 3/4lb, a solitary Trout and river Rudd!, these are extremely rare and I only know of a couple caught in this river system in particular, certain section's were quiet too which just goes to highlight just how transient the shoals of Roach and Dace can be, being prepared to hunt them down is a must and never expect to find them in the same swim twice, fun fun fun.

Looking good.

Best of the day at 9oz 6dr.

Dawn Raid on the Barbel Front.

 Just a quick catch up on yesterday's session in search of Tench, it was rubbish and that was that, a waste of time and effort as nothing I or my father did could arouse a bite off of any unsuspecting fish, so I forgot that trip in a hurry (angling wise) and woke up pretty early this morning hoping to snare a good Barbel, travelling light as I usually do I set about working the river from the bottom of my first beat and heading up, the river was up and coloured which is just perfect for a Barbel session.

 Although I love sight fishing in gin-clear rivers the colour didn't bother me and within 10 minutes my arm was nearly wrenched from it's socket as a strong fish tore off downstream but the fight immediately felt that it would be short-lived as I could feel that the fish had gone through a snag on it's first charge and the line was grating on the snag constantly, with 6lb line straight through I didn't fancy my chances so I leant into the Barbel and gave it some serious side strain as if I was going to lose the fish I would at least like a fighting chance...(pardon the pun)...on landing it and by some miracle the fish responded to the return power that she headed upstream towards me at a pace for which struggled to keep up with, luckily for me the speed of the water helped keep tension and then all of a sudden the grating stopped and the fish started to fight harder, the shackles were certainly off as she tore of upstream again but not before flashing it's right-hand side to me as it careered through the oncoming flow, a double figure fish for sure was the verdict but after 5 or so minutes she still wasn't ready and my right arm was starting to struggle and a quick swap of arms was needed just to recuperate in preparation for the finale of the battle.

 Another 3 or 4 minutes had passed before I could actually get a shot at landing this deranged Barbel and after three abandoned attempts the fourth was successful, a double figure fish lay in the net reviving. Bloody brilliant, but I really need to start doing exercises before fishing if it's going to be this hard everytime!. At 10lb 5oz on the scales she was big but plenty of room to grow into, three doubles already and I'm not fishing hard for them either, right place - right time.

Not bad eh!

 I contemplated finishing there but I headed upstream to a few other spots where I thought a fish or two may be holding up and an opportunity to catch a second double of the session came but I contrived to miss the take and cast my tackle into the tree behind me, but if that wasn't bad enough I got a second bite of the cherry and tried not emulate my previous failure of a hook-up but I was obviously in a wasteful mood as the same fish came back for seconds and I bumped the fish which did annoy it no-end. These things happen and apart from foul-hooking another of around 5-6lbs that was my session over, but I was very happy with that fish, a good morning out and grabbed a breakfast roll for the journey home.

Large Floodwater Roach.

 A couple of weeks spent on holiday and then a stag do I had a somewhat hectic schedule but having returned from Brussels I'm now into my last week off, this evening the rain was still coming down but I really wanted to get out on the bank.

 The conditions for Roach upon arrival were almost perfect, the river was up maybe 1.5ft and was running very cloudy, from what I understand it's rained for a whole week so I wasn't too surprised to find it in flood, with the water running cold I thought it would be hard work to find some feeding fish but the target was a Roach and the larger ones were what I really wanted. At 6pm it was 11c at the end of August, madness that this is supposed to be summer.

 To begin with I trotted sweetcorn along a far bank crease at roughly 6ft deep which was slightly overdepth, to overcome the stronger than usual current I bulked a 5AA avon float down to try and keep the bait tight and slow where I thought the Roach may be, it didn't take long for a swift pull of the float and a decent fish hung deep in the flow, at first I thought it was a Roach but the fish was fighting dirty which is the way Chub scrap, it wasn't long either before a Chevin surfaced and approached the net, a sturdy fish of 4lb or so was quickly unhooked and released, this happened 3 times in seven casts, all the Chub were of good sizes but then it went very quiet before a surprise surfaced in the shape of a baby near Linear Mirror Carp, a massive surprise given the conditions and pace of the river, obviously wasn't deterred though.

How very pretty!!

 After that little Carp it was very slow going again and thought of changing to the feeder, I stalled on that decision for a while as dusk was still a while away, the very next trot through my float slid under confidently, immediately I thought it was a Roach and a very good one at that, after you've had a few the fight can be a dead give away and the tell-tale "jag jag jag" followed by a sharp dive down again towards what I think was a weed bed as the line and fish went solid for a moment, my heart skipped a beat before it became loose again, within seconds a big red dorsal fin cut through the murky depths, with the strength of the current I couldn't play the fish any harder with the fear of loosing it but having seen what was a certain 2lb Roach on the business end I wanted to slip my net under it asap, she still had one last attempt at freedom but I guided it through the pacey water to safety on my net, a rest was required as the redfin had given me a good scrap.

Another 2lb Roach at 2.3, which was very long.

 On the Rueben's this beauty settled on 2lb 3oz and in fantastic condition barring a nick out of it's back, probably from childhood by a heron or cormorant, but in fine fighting condition she had a few piccy's then back to the torrent. I continued to fish on but bites were hard to come by and even a change over to the feeder yielded only a few little knocks which were probably small Chub, a brilliant Roach was enough and I packed up. 

 Tackle used today was a:

 Maver 12ft trotting rod, Greys Centrepin loaded with 4lb "Cameleon", fished in conjunction with a Drennan 5AA avon trotter and a size 10 wide gape barbless hook.

Canal Rudd - Part Two

 With yesterday's success on the Rudd front I woke up this morning with a plan of where I was going to try, I wasted no time this morning on getting started with a slice of bread broken and tossed out to seek out the feeding fish and await the swirls to begin, but I saw something I didn't expect as a huge bow-wave broke out in amongst a weed bed, it shot off up and then double backed straight towards and under the bridge I was standing on, I first thought it was a crazy Pike but I had never encountered that before, then as some reeds downstream of the bridge started moving violently and then it revealed itself, in the half light I could make out a large head of an Otter as it popped up to check where I was, still able to see me on the bridge it went under and the bow-wave began again, an Otter on that canal could be devastating and could have a profound effect on such an intimate water, if it was a rogue then hopefully it buggers off but as the day progressed I was catching fish with suspected Otter damage, so I suspect it has been around a while or comes to visit on a regular basis to wreak havoc on the fish stocks.

Love fishing at dawn.

 Upon seeing that Otter I changed direction and headed away from where it was heading with the hope that things had settled down and the Rudd begin their morning munch, below is a piccy of the best I managed at dawn but I did see one a little bigger than my largest.

A stunning 1.4, didn't realised I looked so rough!

 I maybe had a dozen to 1lb 4oz before breakfast but I couldn't find many larger ones so after brekkie I hatched another plan and hoped it would pay off, 4 miles or so of walking up and down searching for a good one to cast at I had finally done so in the shape of a cracking 1.9 in pristine condition, this was followed up by a string of fish (1.5, 1.5, 1.3 & 1.0) these were all taken in a small section of the canal in very quick succession which was great sport and a bonus Tench on free-lined bread.

Not the biggest but it played very hard to get.

Notice the suspected otter damage on the upper lobe of the tail.

 And below is a couple of Rudd that were taken later on in the day and through all of the smaller fish I managed to bag myself a 2lb plus specimen and from what I can tell there simply isn't many of them in the canal so I feel very pleased to have snared one on the second day, the other fish weren't bad either as I banked a 1lb 8oz and a 1lb 10oz 2dr.

2nd biggest of my trip to Somerset.

A dirty fight off this beaut, my best for a very long time - 2lb 1.5oz 

 The largest Rudd really did fight hard and I did think that I'd lose it when it ploughed straight into a bank of weed and when I freed it from there she made a bee-line for the near-side reed line and very nearly did lose it, I scrambled up the bank for the net and mugged the fish before I could lose it, a huge sigh of relief when I looked in the net to see it laying up after what must have been just a tiring for the Rudd as it was me!.

A lovely place to spend some time, London is such a shite place to live.

Rudd Country.

Canal Rudd - Part One.

 It's been a while since I've wanted to get a start on my Rudd fishing, I did have a half-hearted attempt at Frensham Small Pond after the resident fish but it turned out to be hard work, so to make thing's tougher I decided to head down to Somerset in search of Britain's prettiest species of fish and I sure you would not argue, wild Rudd in beautiful surrounding's.

 The weather forecast all last week made bleak reading and thing's weren't turning out well, come yesterday evening the forecast was exactly what I was hoping for, bright sunshine and light wind is my ideal condition's for stalking Rudd and armed with a couple loaves of bread the hunt was on, I began my three-day quest with a stunning fish which was in great nick, after 20 minutes I had one on the bank, but this trip came with a target of a 2lb plus specimen with a 3lb+ fish unlikely but who knows what could happen!.

 As the day progressed the larger Rudd were starting to show, between me and my host we began to get some better stamp of fish, here are some of the fish that came to net during my first day on the cut...

Early doors and perfect condition.

Biggest of the day at 1lb 8oz.

Immaculate pound plus Redfin.

1lb 6oz...getting bigger.

Big Dace in a Wild Place Part Two.

 The large Dace that I have seen recently and been lucky enough to catch a few of have been flickering through my mind over the last week so I had to satisfy my mind, a forty minute journey completed and I arrived roughly where the fish were last time but I know Dace move in their shoals a hell of a lot, I have never found them in the same place twice and finding them again is not easy as there is plenty of water with the addition of bank to bank weed with only small amounts of gaps but those are the only options.

 With the temperature reaching 27c by midday-ish the sport was tough and the Dace weren't feeding hard and I only managed one of 8oz 7dr, not a monster but with the abundance of natural food things are currently tough, as it gets cooler it will improve, plenty of Chub to 4lb 6oz also made an appearance but in the process of coming in to the net ruined the swims with their frolicking, but better than nothing I suppose.

Barbelling Session's.

 With my Rudd campaign looking to resume soon I thought about getting amongst some Barbel and with a few little pocket's of spare time knocking about I have been getting myself on the bank and hoping for a wrench or two to mix up my fishing a little.

 The other evening with a little rain predicted I set about building a swim and awaiting the fish to turn on, it took longer than I thought it would but a quick move proved pivotal as this slender summer Barbel fell to my BFR, the first of many no doubt and that was quickly followed by another of smaller ilk (5lb or so) but equally as powerful, oh how you miss a good scrap.....

The largest around the 7lb mark.

 So that evening session was a success and I wanted to get myself back into the swim that had produced previously for me but I had taken my father (James Snr) on a little guided tour for a Barbel with the hope he could manage one of these magnificent fish, size wasn't on the agenda as he doesn't get out much. We started by fishing likely looking areas and allowing a bit of time for fish to move onto our bait's but as we aimed to take a roving approach we quickly scrapped this idea and I thought trotting in these condition's would serve us best.

 Using 6BB Avon spigot floats fished at various depths we could get our baits into awkward position's with minimum of fuss, this tactic didn't take long either to provide a fish, a swift take on my rod had me scrambling to get the net prepared when the Barbel finally gave up, on relatively light tackle it put up a good showing. After unhooking and a brief check-up to see if it was okay she bolted off into the deep after reviving in the net.

 As I said size wasn't on the agenda and I simply wanted my Dad to get one, but it wasn't his day as I changed tactic again and I connected with a very decent Barbel, with my polarized glasses I could see the fish twist and turn deep in the pool, straight away I could tell it was a double and my heart started pumping hard all I had to do was to stop it from heading for the far bank vegetation and mid-river snags and I was okay, this was easier said than done but after some serious side strain she began to ease up, one last dive for freedom was curtailed early doors and just managed to get her into the net which was followed by a swift fist pump.

Amazing fish, feels good to catch such immaculate specimen's.

 Eagerly wanting to know what weight it would go I had the scales out and got a shock when after deducting the net she only registered 10lb 8oz, a frame of a certain eleven but did I care?, did I hell, a lovely fish glowing in the sun on a perfect summer evening, behaving well for a couple of photographs it then returned strong to make somebody else's day, my second double in as many weeks. Very happy with that result and it ended well for my father too a he banked a lovely Chub of 4lb, not a Barbel but a fish all the same.

Not Quite To Plan.

 It has been a funny week in regards to the weather as it has been up and down like a fiddler's elbow, the fishing has been indifferent and recently I have been thinking of having a short break to allow the systems to sort themselves out, so bearing that in mind I planned on tackling early morning Bream. The 4am alarm sounded and hit the snooze button immediately for I wasn't ready and not enough sleep had been caught, I did finally get out and on the bank for roughly six, when I arrived I was met by drifting weed and a brisk down wind which made fishing extremely difficult, I did attempt to fish it but after just half an hour I knew it was futile so I packed up headed elsewhere.

There is a river there somewhere....

 Thing's looked better upon arrival at my next venue, surrounded by beautiful woodland and not a soul in sight I set about targeting the Tench and Bream that I know are present, both species are known to top 12lb+ and with specimen's like that available it's not hard to see why I really love fishing this lake, at first I was getting a few small pulls under on the float but nothing materialized, with a quick change of bait though saw a brace of lovely Tench fall in quick succession just off a large bunch of lily-pads, the fights were mind bending and very nearly lost both fish on numerous occasions as they seeked the cover of the vast padded area, needless to say they both deserved a well earned rest and laid perfectly still for a nice side-by-side shot.

Two in a bed - 6lb 1oz & 4lb 3oz.

 It was rather a quick fire bit of fishing as I remained biteless for nearly an hour before a small Bream of 2lb showed a liking to a small prawn, it was very slow after that and moved a couple of times around the lake but nothing doing, so another change of venue and also change of discipline as I decided to do some long trotting for Dace and Roach, with a slight possibility of an early season Grayling.

 I have never fished this stretch before so I really didn't know what to expect and it was set in some picturesque settings, so all I needed was some fish.....after 2 hours of trotting I had a thoroughly wet net with seven lovely Roach to 13oz and around a dozen Dace to an astounding 13oz 7dr, a specimen Dace picked out of a shoal of fish that averaged just 5oz, so I was glad I got my hands on the grand-mother of the bunch, very happy days indeed and another really big Dace to add to my collection.

Average sized fish of 5-6oz.

A proper good Dace.

Photo of the 13oz Dace will be put up as soon as I can sync my phone.