DAWN OF ANOTHER CANAL ROACH SEASON

 
     Well my roach on paste project went nowhere very quickly. I returned to Jubilee and fished our best 'roach' swim to little effect. Getting bites was no problem, my float was up and down like a whore's drawers from first cast to last, but I only had half a dozen proper bites. To be honest, I wasn't at all surprised as it was a very cold start. The goose field by the entrance had a thick frost lying on it and although there was little sign of one anywhere else, it was very cold. I caught four bream and hybrids but it was a grim return so I decided to kick off my winter canal roach effort on the Ashby canal the following morning.

     It was a much warmer morning, but the results were not dissimilar. Endless knocks and twitches from 6.30 in the morning until the first boat chugged past at 9.45. I fished my Barratt, hybrid cane quivertip rod. A 4lbs mainline leaves me options from 1.3 to 3.3lbs hooklengths and I settled on 2lbs to a 14 hook. Hook sizes have been a farce even since I began fishing 50 plus years ago. These days, I use Drennan silverfish hair riggers for most of my fishing using hooklengths below 4.4 lbs. Today I used a size 14 Kamasan 911 which would easily have been a 12 in my usual pattern.

     I thought it would be a productive morning given the huge amount of indications and the delightful 12 ounce roach that took my flake on the first cast, but it was not to be. I added an 8oz bream and a 12 oz hybrid before packing but it was another frustrating morning of unhittable indications. I tried cheesepaste as well with similar results and it really feels like the fish are just not really feeding that hard at the moment, anywhere. I suspect I would fare better with maggots on the pole.

     To that end, I did indeed try them on my next trip out. Pete and I had our eyes on a peaceful stretch close to the pool and as it was a first visit, maggots would give us the best chance of catching something. We had fished this area with lures a few years back to little effect and back then, filthy water and the large amount CRTs hedge trimmings floating in the water had seriously soured our opinion of the place. There was absolutely no shortage of fish but unfortunately the vast majority were under an ounce. On the plus side, we did get a few roach to around 5 ounces and a couple of better perch, that and the sheer variety of species will definitely see us back there soon.

 
     Unfortunately the boat traffic became worse and worse and I was having trouble working my float properly so I resorted to technique that has worked for me in the past. I used a bare line with just a single no 1 shot pinched on 6" from the hook and fished right in the side watching the elastic that hange from the pole tip for bites. If you like, I was swingtipping with the pole and it caught me some more fish including my best roach of the morning. Nevertheless it wasn't enough to keep us away from the pub and we packed at half eleven.

     My second visit to the Ashby was more of the same really. This time I floatfished but with lighter tackle, 2.6lbs mainline and 1.3lbs hooklengths. I don't believe for one minute that such light tackle is necessary, but it is certainly a pleasure to use and it does make me feel more like I am roach fishing. Unusually, bites were a little slow in coming but after about 45 minutes, the swim started to fizz. I don't ever remember seeing 'fizzing' on there before but they were hard at it today. I soon began getting liners and when at last the float slid away, it was to the pull of a small roach rather than the expected bream or hybrid. It was a fish all the same and the target species to boot. It was a perfect opportunity for an early boat to chew up my swim which one promptly did, at 7.45 in the morning.

 
     Whether it's just in my head or not, I don't really know but boats always seem to mean the kiss of death to my fishing. As this one passed, the main track became a torrid, swirling mess of silt and debris but interestingly the margins didn't seem to react and this made me think of an old Billy Makin mantra - ,'When the boats start, fish the margins'. As if to put emphasis on that idea, two decent fish rolled against the far bank and my mind was made up. After the disturbance had settled, I lumped some feed across the far side and cast across. Results were still less than spectacular but a half pound roach followed by a one pound hybrid were indication enough that I have ignored the margins for too long. After all, fishing the nearside one had caught me some bonus fish a couple of days before.



     I now have another reason to finish a workshop project, building a light cane feeder rod from bits and another kind of swim to look for. Ideally it would be an overgrown far bank with the trees hanging well out over the water with a gap to cast a light ledger into.