SMALL MARGINS

 It can be so hard to work out why one is successful or otherwise. Today we visited one of our favourite club stretches on the Grand Union. It has never been more than reticent with its better fish but it has, like other stretches of this canal that we fish, been very generous with its bites and small fish. Over the last couple of seasons, we have had a few Bream to 2lbs plus, several Perch to a pound and a quarter and one stray Carp of around eight pounds but the bulk of our catches have been silvers from one to four ounces. I don't mind that, the older I get the less patience I have with long biteless spells.

So today we set up thirty feet apart. Pete on the float, myself on the Jap pole, both fishing worms and pinkies, both expecting a mixed bag with the emphasis on perch. Well we got the emphasis right. I caught all morning, mostly on the float but every fish was small. Pete however struggled for bites all morning but in among his half dozen tiddlers were two equally lovely but definitely different, Perch of 1-5.

There were challenges today, fall has begun and the canal was covered with the slim yellow leaves of Willow and Ash, while the lock keepers had decided to run off a lot of water and the canal was pulling strongly from ten until twelve o' clock. Fishing my tiny, dust-shotted quill became impossible as the flow just pulled the bait way up off the bottom so I ended up legering with a single bb on the line and watching the dacron connector for bites. It worked just fine and is a quick fix once the water starts moving but it's no substitute for watching a float.

So there here are today's conundrums. Why such different results when fishing so similarly, so close together. Why did nothing but Perch and daddy Ruffe take our baits and why are there so many Ruffe about these days. I had half a dozen today, I don't mind, I quite like them but for many years I found them to be pretty rare captures. Maybe they've been there all along and a growing reliance on worms for bait has been the reason.

 
Another more impactful reason could be that the canal Zander population has stabilised naturally or been reduced artificially. Perhaps the growing Otter population has had an impact. If so, what does that mean for the quality of fish in the canal? Over the last couple of season's I have been catching far more small fish and far fewer of the big ones. Two years ago, I rarely caught a fish under 12 ounces from the Ashby, now most of them are. The two to three pound plus Hybrids have become rare rather than par for the course.

George and some of the other syndicate members are still catching big fish from the canals so it is entirely possible that my quest to continue catching once the boats start has succeeded to some extent but at the cost of catching smaller fish. I wonder now if the better fish just stop feeding or perhaps move across to the far side. If nothing else there is the spur I need to get my prototype canal feeder rod finished.